Fate Fantasy
by AgntNevada
Summary: 10 years ago, the Grail was believed to be destroyed. The War was over, but every action has a consequence. By infusing the Grail with the power of Excalibur's attack, the Grail found itself overloaded with energy and out of balance. To resolve this problem, the Grail reached out and drew upon the Second Sorcery and called upon the heroes of other times and other worlds.
1. Prologue

**Fate/Fantasy**

 **Prologue**

 _People are stupid. Given the proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. They believe it because they want it to be true or because they are afraid it is true._ \- Zedicus Zul Zorander, Wizard's First Rule

Human language is full of words that mean far more than their definitions imply. Faith, hope, justice, peace, and love are just a handful of such words.

Love can drive a man to do things he would never consider. Faith can let him step off the edge of a cliff and stand on apparently empty space. Justice can make a passive man kill. And hope can make him do the insane, in order to save billions of lives.

When it comes right down to it, human beings just aren't rational and predictable beings. They hold intangible things in greater regard than the physical, take terrible risks for reasons they never truly understand, and are undeniable hypocrites.

The grand paradox that is humanity is clearly one of the species greatest flaws, and one of its greatest strengths. While the common man is rife with these patently infuriating qualities, there are those few who take those flaws and transform them into something grand.

Rising up as leaders, these few can direct the energy of mankind and harness it to create moments of pure wonder. These few, these heroes, transcend their earthly bonds and become legends that inspire future generations of man to take up the mantle of hero and propell humanity to further heights.

But legends have a power beyond inspiring the wills of mankind. They also inspire the mind. Not everyone has the strength to take up arms and become a hero, but many have the minds to take those legends and spread those tales across the world.

Every hero, and even all villains, exist within the minds of humanity. For every great and terrible deed done by mankind, there exists a tale made in homage of that deed. Over the centuries, those tales have grown, evolved, and spawned new tales. Given enough time, and maybe a pinch of that ever hard-to-define word 'faith', these new tales can maybe gain a spark of life of their own.

 **Author's note (IMPORTANT INFORMATION! PLEASE READ!): Welcome to my latest project. For those of you who know me from my RWBY stories, you've probably been wondering where I've been for months. Unfortunately for my stories, life kinda got in the way. And once I got life straightened out: this happened. I haven't forgotten EMRD, or even The Other Side of the Glass, but, as I've said before, I can really only focus on one project at a time. I will get back to those stories, but only when I can get my muse to focus on them.**

 **This is the first chapter of a multi-chapter upload, so don't be too disappointed by how short this post is. More will be coming soon. I do, however, have one alert that** _ **everyone**_ **reading this needs to understand. I am placing a** _ **blanket spoiler warning**_ **for the entire story. I will be making use of characters and referencing events that will spoil events in other fandoms. I don't plan on explaining the spoilers unless the events become relevant in the story itself, and I don't plan on posting warnings every time a spoiler will come up. If you see something from a fandom that you don't want spoiled, stop reading there. I'm sorry if that seems blunt, but I want to maintain the flow of the narrative.**

 **For those of you who just want to move on to the rest of the story: this is where you can stop reading. For those of you who are curious about the history behind this story; carry on.**

 **I must confess, this was never the type of story I thought I'd ever find myself writing. I'm usually not a fan of derailing an established storyline by inserting myself or other characters into a story. I've been given glowing recommendations from my brothers about such stories, but I don't really indulge in them**

 **Fate/Fantasy started as a thought experiment after I was introduced to Fate/Zero, my first real exposure to the Nasuverse. On rewatchings of Fate/Zero, I would always find myself inserting characters from other fandoms into the mix and trying to parse out how things would change. I found myself trying to create sets of Servants from other fandoms I enjoyed, and slowly the seeds of an idea grew.**

 **It wasn't until my brother/co writer/outliner, Warden Myst, got into the Fate/Stay Night visual novel and the lore of the Nasuverse did this idea become a fully-fledged project. I went through the Fate/Stay Night anime, as well as the Unlimited Blade Works anime, and got a comprehensive explanation of the original visual novel from Warden Myst.**

 **Then came the outline, and the fascinating process of trying to interlink three separate timelines, and the insertion of several new characters. Despite this being a character insertion story, I plan on this being true to the spirit of the original story.**

 **I certainly hope that I have done that well, and I believe that I have. Will you agree with me? I have no idea. That part is on you. :D**

 **But I've rambled for long enough. You came here for a story, and it's time that I gave you one. So, without further ado, welcome to Fate/Fantasy.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _The road to Hell is paved with good intentions._ \- Popular aphorism

It was one of the oddest dreams Rin had ever had. Some part of her sleeping mind that was still cold and rational wondered if perhaps the dream had spawned from the ritual she had been studying in minute detail before falling asleep.

Or perhaps it was because she had been looking over old legends so that she could have a clear image in her mind of the Saber she would summon soon.

Whatever the reason, she knew that she was, in fact, in a dream, no matter how visceral the experience was.

She stood in a stone structure she recognized as the pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico. A man in an elaborate, black breastplate and armor and dark grey cape stood before a short man flanked on either side by a line of figures in gold masks.

The man in armor, who Rin assumed was a knight of legend, held a staff of oak in one hand, a frost-covered sword on the ground next to him. Beyond him was a stone altar with a child beside it, a dark skinned, dark haired woman in Mayan ceremonial gear was held from behind by a bland looking, blonde man with a machete to her neck.

The knight stood stock still, as if held in place by something Rin could not see, and his eyes shifted from one gold masked figure to the other.

The figures conversed, and Rin had trouble understanding what was happening, not because she didn't understand English, she was fluent naturally, but because the conversation didn't entirely make sense. Rin felt that there an element or context that was missing from her perception of events.

The woman suddenly flew into a berserker rage and spun, the machete slicing open her neck as she tore out the blonde's throat. One of the gold masked figures suddenly let out a grunt of pain and another turned and poured emerald and blue light amongst her fellows.

The knight surged forward and stabbed his suddenly ice covered fingers into the short man's eyes. Blue and silver fire erupted from the short man's head and he let out a powerful, unnaturally loud scream.

* * *

Rin awoke to the sound of her alarm clock ringing in the same damn persistent and insidiously 'cheerful' manner that it did every morning.

With a groan, the young mage shifted her body enough to peek out of the cocoon of her bed and glared at the demonic, sleep-depriving device on her bed.

"Shut up!" she shouted, or rather would have shouted. The tiredness in her voice removed much of the edge from her tone. To compensate, she hurled the clock at a nearby chair with enough force to knock said chair over, the clock clattering nearby.

The alarm kept ringing.

"Come on, already?" Rin asked. "I was up late last night so just give me a few more minutes." She groaned as she rose from her bed and added, "Evil, heartless jerk."

She clicked the alarm off and let out a sigh.

"What a weird dream," she thought aloud. "Who was the man in the armor?"

Now that she was up and moving, Rin fell into her usual morning routine. She moved through the Western-style home, cleaning herself up, making breakfast, and getting dressed in her school uniform and signature long, red coat. She stopped briefly and examined herself in the hall mirror, making sure the tie on her uniform was done correctly. Her dark hair was done up in its usual style, a pair of bows creating tails to frame her face. Her blue eyes now full of energy. She was almost out of the door when she remembered.

"Oh, that's right, the pendant."

It didn't take long for her to go down into the basement of her home where her magic workshop was and retrieve the almost heart-shaped red gem and chain her father had left her. The pendant was simple and beautiful and a not-inconsiderable weapon in the hands of a mage as skilled as Rin was.

"I know it hasn't really begun just yet, but I can't be too careful, can I?"

* * *

As she made her way to school, Rin began to feel uneasy.

 _What's going on?_ she thought. _It's way too quiet. I don't see a single student on the street._

As she walked into the school's courtyard she glanced around at the apparently deserted campus and said, "Well, guess it's just one of those days."

"Hey, Tohsaka!" a girl called. "You're awfully early today."

Rin let out a sigh as the situation dawned on her and said, "So that's what's going on."

As Rin approached, the girl who had called out to her left the vending machines and joined her. The fellow student had short, chestnut colored hair and yellow-brown eyes. Instead of a school uniform, she was wearing the white and black robes of an archery club uniform.

"Morning," she greeted the mage, "sure is cold today, huh?"

"Good morning, Mitzuzeri," Rin replied. Then added, "by the way, do you happen to know what time it is?"

Ayako Mitzuzeri tilted her head to one side in confusion before answering, "Yeah, I do, it's just before 7. You come early by mistake?" The brunette cracked open the can of coffee she carried and took a sip as she spoke.

"It looks like the clocks at my house were an hour fast," Rin answered. "And not just my alarm clock but the wall clocks too, and all by the same amount." She grew thoughtful and muttered, "It started after I found the pendant. Could Father be the cause of this?"

She felt a presence beside her and turned to see Mitzuzeri leaning forward and examining her closely.

"Wake up, girl," Mitzuzeri said.

Rin gave her a look and poked the girl as she asked, "Are you practicing this early again?"

"Yeah, I lost one of our best club members. I have to try to put on a decent show so that we can get more good people on our team."

"Geez, as the captain you have to think about things like that?"

"Hey, since you're here and all, why don't you come and watch us practice?"

As Mitzuzeri led Rin to the archery dojo, Rin's thoughts turned toward the day's strange events. A dream of a mysterious knight… The clocks in her house adjusting on their own… Her father's will…

Rin came back to reality as Mitzuzeri moved to retrieve her bow, and politely declined the offer to observe. Mitzuzeri looked slightly disappointed at the refusal.

"So you're really not going to watch?" she asked.

"Yeah, thank you but I'll pass," Rin said. "It looks cool and all, but I don't know a thing about it."

As she spoke, the door to the dojo opened and a girl slightly younger than herself stepped in. The newcomer wore a school uniform and had purple hair and eyes along with a magenta colored ribbon on the, to Rin, right side of her hair.

"Good morning, captain," the newcomer said with a respectful bow.

"Hey, good morning, Matou. He didn't come, huh?"

"No, ma'am. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to be of more help."

"Look, it's fine, don't worry," Mitzuzeri said with a warm smile. "If he doesn't want to do it it's no use. Besides, we can't force him."

Seeing as the conversation wasn't any of Rin's business, she decided to take the opportunity to duck out.

"I suppose I'll be going then. See you later, Mitzuzeri."

"Okay. See you later, Tohsaka."

The newcomer bowed again and said, "Thank you for visiting, Miss Tohsaka."

Rin stopped for a moment and glanced over her shoulder. "No problem. Work hard, Sakura." Then she left.

Rin made her way toward the main school building and briefly caught sight of a tall, athletic, redheaded girl walking away from the archery dojo. The girl had the bearing of someone with extraordinary confidence and complete control of her physical form.

What struck Rin as bizarre was the bronze colored circlet the girl wore, and the fact that she did not recognize the redhead.

The young mage blinked and shook herself and the girl was gone. Rin sighed. That damned alarm clock was truly a devil's tool. It had woken her up early for no reason and deprived her of that precious hour of sleep. It really was turning out to be one of those days.

She continued her trek to the main school building.

"Hey, Tohsaka! Good morning!" A voice called and Rin made a face in disgust as it continued, "Must be my lucky day, running into you like this."

 _Let's just get this over with._

Rin looked over her shoulder wearing a false smile and said, "Good morning, Shinji Matou. You're early today."

"Of course I am," Shinji replied. "I'm team captain, remember?" Shinji Matou was in his school uniform, his dark purple hair falling and curling to just above his ears. He was leaning against one of the pillars outside of the main doors of the school.

"A vice captain, moron," Rin muttered, her head turned enough so that Shinji couldn't spot the response. Not that it really mattered. Shinji was so self-absorbed that he probably wouldn't have noticed even if Rin had been looking straight at him.

With the formalities officially out of the way, Rin raised her hand and said blithely, "Goodbye."

This apparently knocked Shinji off-guard, because he let out a sound of surprise and said, "Hey, wait up. You should check out our morning practice."

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I don't want to get in the way of them _practicing_ ," she put extra emphasis on the word 'practicing' as a minor experiment to see if Shinji would realize that practice involved actually being in the dojo.

He didn't seem to notice. "Come on, nobody will mind," he said.

"Weren't you listening to me just now? I told you: I'll pass." Rin dropped the fake friendliness since it seemed to only be encouraging him. "And besides that, I'm not all that interested in archery to begin with."

"Really, I didn't know that," Shinji said in a thoughtful tone of voice. "I always thought you were fascinated by it." His voice gained a leering quality. "That's very interesting. I thought you kept coming to watch our after school practices because you enjoyed it."

Shinji had moved into her field of view now and took a couple of steps forward so that he was within her personal space. Rin roughly jerked her arm away from his as it came too close, the action turning her gaze away from him again.

"That must mean," he continued, "you were there to watch something else. Like me?"

Rin was growing visibly annoyed. The obnoxious gnat just didn't know when to take a hint, did he?

Rin let out a breath in order to regain her composure. "Just stay away from me Matou, okay?" She whirled around to face him again and delivered her response in a cold, rational tone. "Let me be crystal clear: I'm not interested in archery in any way whatsoever, but I'm even less interested in you. Fact is: I only just now even noticed that you were at the archery range. I'm sure I won't notice you in the future."

"What did you say?!" Shinji shouted, his voice so loud that it echoed off the lockers in the building behind them. "How dare you, Tohsaka?!"

"You know what, Mr. Self-absorbed?" she continued, walking away from the enraged Matou. "You should really think about dialing it down. Just friendly advice."

While Rin was changing into inside shoes, she caught a glimpse of man standing in the shadows of one of the pillars. He was tall, well over six feet, and wore a dark, leather duster with a mantle and a matching leather hat. His was looking at Shinji with suspicious eyes, as if he could read something in the Matou that she couldn't.

As she climbed the stairs, Rin exchanged a greeting with the energetic english teacher, Miss Fujimora. When she reached the next floor she spotted a familiar figure.

Standing outside a room was a tall boy with swept back, dark hair. He seemed to sense her presence and turned his head to face her. Once he saw who it was, he jolted back slightly in surprise and blurted, "Tohsaka."

"Well," Rin said, "Student Council president, are you really patrolling the campus this early in the morning? Or is it maintenance on the club rooms?" Rin rested one hand on her hip as she reached him and spoke. "Not that I care either way. Ever the diligent student." Issei Ryuudou had regained whatever composure he'd lost from his surprise and was now standing there, his arms crossed before him, the dark eyes behind his glasses suspicious.

"And what might you have up your sleeve this morning?" he asked. "I know that you aren't in any clubs, so why are you here this early?"

"I felt like it, that's all," Rin answered in a cavalier tone. Issei grimaced.

This was pretty standard between Rin and Issei. For reasons that she had never quite been able to fathom, Issei had always been suspicious and oddly aware of her presence. No matter what she said, or how she said it, he always kept his guard up around her and analyzed everything she said.

Since his attitude toward her had never changed, and never seemed likely to, Rin had elected to be as cavalier as possible when speaking with him. He was the president of the Student Council, so she was never disrespectful toward him, and wouldn't have been even if he _hadn't_ , but his reactions were always fairly entertaining.

Issei might have been about to respond, but the room he was standing outside opened and another student stepped out, holding one of the space heaters that the school used during the winter months.

"Okay, Issei," the boy said. "I fixed it."

"Oh," Issei said, turning around and losing his irritation. "Thanks a lot." He lifted his hand in a polite gesture and bent forward to speak to the student. "I asked for your help and you ended up doing everything. I'm very sorry, Emiya."

Rin raised her eyebrows. It was impossible to go to Homurahara High school and _not_ know of Shirou Emiya. He had a schoolwide reputation for being helpful. If someone needed to have something fixed, or an extra pair of hands for something on school grounds, the first person they thought of was Shirou Emiya.

Shirou himself was of average height and had messy red-orange hair and golden-brown eyes. On the whole, he didn't have the kind of bearing that someone of his reputation might have had.

"It's okay," Emiya said. "Where's the next one? We don't have a lot of time."

Rin sighed as the two boys began discussing where the other broken heaters and equipment were located. Then she made her way past them and toward her classroom. She did spare one last glance for Emiya as she walked by.

"I didn't know you came to school this early," Shirou said to her as she moved down the hall.

She glanced back again, to see Shirou and Issei moving back into the room with the heater.

"Was that his way of trying to say hello?" she asked herself.

On the whole, Rin's day passed much like any other. The real challenge was going to begin that night, when she would summon her Servant.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _I am the bone of my sword…_ \- Fate/Stay Night

Rin came home to find the voicemail button on her phone blinking. Her eyes narrowed and she resignedly pressed the button, already certain what the message would contain.

" _You have ONE message,_ " the phone said." _Recorded: JANUARY 31ST at 3:21 pm._ "

 _"Rin, it's me,"_ the recorded voice of Kirei Kotumine said. _"As I'm sure you're aware the deadline for entry is tomorrow. I'd advise you to hurry and decide immediately. Only two slots remain. They are the Archer and Saber classes. Their Masters must be chosen without delay. Summon your Servant and establish your Command Seals immediately. Of course, if you are not participating in the Holy Grail war, that is a different matter. If you value your life, seek shelter with the_ -" Rin shut off the recording.

"Huh. You don't tell me what I have to do," she told the phone.

Rin changed out of her school uniform and into a red blouse and black skirt with black stockings. Then she spent the next several hours preparing and perfecting the summoning ritual. Once night had fallen and the hour drew near, she shoved books and materials out of the way and hauled the stone worktable in the center of her basement workshop aside to reveal a ritual circle that had been hidden beneath it.

"Preparations ready," she told herself and checked a clock set on the table. "Time is perfect." She held her wrist with one hand and focused inside at the flow of mana in her body. "Wavelength ideal. By performing the summoning at 2 am, when my mana is at its peak, I'll get Saber even without a catalyst."

There were two ways for a Master to summon a Servant in the opening stage of the Holy Grail War.

Traditionally, a Master would perform the summoning ritual while incorporating an object, called a catalyst, that was central and significant to the heroic spirit the Master wished to summon. An object such as a piece of the armor the hero wore, or a part of their most iconic weapon was the best kind of catalyst but, so long as the object had a significant connection to the spirit in question, theoretically any object could do.

The second approach was trickier. A Master could summon a Servant without a catalyst to use as a focus. What the ritual would use instead was the mage herself as the catalyst. The magic would analyze the mage in question and seek out a Servant that could fulfill one of the missing slots and resonate with the Master on a personal level. While this could, in theory, summon a Servant that the mage would get along with, it also meant that the mage would be summoning a Servant completely blind, without any clue as to who would get selected.

"Just you watch," she spoke to the room. Rin opened her hand and examined the gems she had there. That collection of stones was a not-so-modest horde of potential magical energy. It was enough power to do a fairly impressive number of magical feats, if the mage knew what she was doing.

It was enough, more than enough, power to pull the strongest card.

 _"For the elements: silver and iron. The foundation: stone and the archduke of pacts. And, for my great master Shvinorg."_ The gems melted in Rin's right hand and splashed into the circle. The liquid glowed with a blue-green light and began to move on its own, filling in the red lines of the ritual spell. _"Close the four gates. Come forth from the crown and follow the forked road leading to the kingdom."_ The circle had been completely illuminated by the green light of Rin's melted gems. More liquid seeped from the mage's closed hand, the drips causing the light to ripple and brighten as she continued to incant. _"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Repeat five times, but when each is filled, destroy it."_ The green light shifted in a bright orange glow, like the sun as it began to rise. _"Set."_

"Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason then answer me. I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all evil in the world." The circle's light turned red and waves of power rippled from the spell around her, casting sparks like distant stars drifting through the room. "Seventh heaven clad in the great words of power. From the binding circle, thou guardian of the scales!" The spell coalesced into a circle of crackling red and let out a gust of wind that scattered loose paper into the four corners of the chamber.

Smoke cleared and Rin found herself kneeling on the ground, feeling tired, but filled with ecstatic energy at the same time. She laughed and looked at her right hand, which now bore the crimson stigmatus of Command Seals, marking her as a Master in the 5th Holy Grail War.

"That was flawless! I know I drew the most powerful card there is!"

Rin looked around in jubilation, and realized that something was wrong. There was no Servant.

Before she could even process the irregularity, there was an enormous CRASH from above her.

Rin lurched into the stairwell and ran up with a cry of, "Why?!"

It didn't take her long to reach the sitting room, the location of the rukus. The door, probably because of the crash, was stuck.

"Damn, stupid door! Get... Damnit!" she shouted and managed to knock the door completely out of its frame and gain access to the room.

Most of the furniture from the center of the room had been apparently forced into one point and then either blasted away or partially crushed by the figure resting as nobly as a king on his throne.

The figure wore black pants and boots with bands of leather and metal running along and down the articles as well as a tight, black and white, unitard style of armor from his neck to his waist. A wide band of red was wrapped around his waist and draped down behind him almost like a skirt. A similar red jacket was draped over his shoulders and down his arms, stopping just below his armpits. His hair was white, but clearly not as a result of age. His white hair struck Rin as a consequence of events rather than the progression of time.

The man opened his dark eyes and there was a briefest flash of surprise in them, before shifting into overwhelming confidence. He looked her over with only one eye open and a smile spread across his lips.

Rin stood there in surprise for a moment, before becoming annoyed at the man's cavalier bearing. Her eyes shifted to the grandfather clocked resting off-kilter behind the man and realization made her gasp in surprise.

 _Wait, all the clocks were running an hour early when I got up this morning,_ she thought. _Which means it's now 1 am not 2 am._

"I did it again!" she complained, grabbing her hair in pure frustration. "Well, what's done is done, I guess." She dropped to her knees. "Why did you give me this task, Father?" She let out a grunt of annoyance before turning to face the stranger. "Oh, all right. What are you?"

The man animated at the question. "That's the first thing you say to me? Well, well, well, looks like I was summoned by quite the Master. No, wait. I must've drawn the shortest straw."

Rin rose to her feet and regarded the Servant warily. "Just to be perfectly clear, whoever you are, you're my Servant, correct?"

"And am I to presume that you are my Master? You weren't present when I emerged from the summoning."

"Don't tell me you expected your Master to be sitting here waiting for you to give you a warm welcome? Give me a break, you're not a baby." She sighed and continued, "All right, fine. Just answer my question, okay? You really are my Servant, right? Just mine and no one else's. Is that correct? Master/Servant relationships should be clearly laid out right off the bat."

"Of course," the Servant replied. "I completely agree with that opinion. However, where's the evidence that you're really my Master and not some imposter?"

"Right here," Rin replied, presenting her Command Seals to the man. "This is all the proof you need that I am your Master."

The man's eyes widened, as if surprised by Rin's move. Then he let out a sigh.

"Oh, dear. Do you really mean that, little miss? That's not what I want to see. That token on your hand is meaningless. What I want see is if you're someone who is worthy of my loyalty."

"Excuse me?" Rin asked, not impressed with the frankly childish display from the Servant. "I'm not good enough to be your Master?"

He stepped up to her and loomed before the mage. "I'm completely dissatisfied, but I'll acknowledge you as my Master. But, only on one condition: In the war to come, I will not obey your commands. I will decide how I battle. You don't object to that, do you?"

Rin stood there, her hands clenched in near silent fury, as the Servant stepped away from her back toward his impromptu throne. "I see," she said through teeth she fought not to grind together. "You will grudgingly acknowledge me, but refuse to listen to my tactical opinions. How can that be? You are my Servant, are you not?"

"Yes, but in form only. So, I will obey you in form only. Oh, and I'll be calling my own shots. Until this Holy Grail war ends, I suggest that you sit tight down in some cellar. If you do that, even a novice like you should be able to stay alive." Rin's hands began shaking with anger that was barely controlled. The man noticed. "Oh, have I made you angry? Well, I've great respect for your office. After all, I was summoned here to win a great victory for my Master. My victory will be your victory. And I'll pass on any fruits of battle to you. I'm sure that's acceptable. So, just leave everything to me now and see to your own safety and well-being. I don't expect anything from you."

Rin couldn't contain it any longer. This self-absorbed, condescending, arrogant, bastard had gone so far over the line that he was on another continent by now.

"SHUT UP, ALREADY!" she screamed. "Fine, you asked for it! I'll show you who's Master!" She began to incant, calling upon the power granted to her by the Holy Grail.

The Servant looked extremely alarmed at her outburst. "What? Wait!"

"No, I won't!" Rin said with a stomp of her foot. "You despicable ingrate!" She continued to incant.

The Servant rose in rising alarm. "What are you doing? Are you crazy? Wasting a Command Seal on something like this?"

Rin finished her incantation and added, "Silence! Listen, you are my goddamn Servant. That means absolute obedience. You'll do everything I say!" Crimson light pulsed out in a ring from Rin's raised hand, and the Servant raised his arms in an instinctive, defensive gesture. As the light reached him, his body glowed for the briefest moment and he crouched in a gesture not quite unlike a bow.

The outermost crescent marking of Rin's stigmatus dulled to the point of near invisibility as the command was fulfilled.

Now it was the Servant's turn to grow angry.

"Ugh, are you really that stupid?! I can't believe you wasted a Command Seal on that!"

Rin's anger evaporated, leaving behind embarrassment that colored her cheeks pink.

"L-let's take this elsewhere. Come with me." she said and led the Servant into her father's, now her own, study.

The room was large and had a floor-to-ceiling window as a wall behind the desk. A low table sat perpendicular to the desk, with a pair of couches with side tables on either side. The wall opposite the desk was made of a massive bookshelf. A stair led up to an upper section of the study that wrapped around the periphery of the room. The walls of this upper section were wrapped with more bookshelves. Archer tapped a finger against a device on the lower bookshelf, causing the suspended part of the device to swing ever so slightly.

Now that everyone involved had regained most of their composure, they began to discuss the situation again.

"Well, Master," the Servant said from his position in front of one of the bookshelves. "I think I now have a pretty good idea of who you are. But, just to be clear, you do realize how precious Command Seals are, don't you?"

Rin turned her head away in annoyance. She was sitting on one of the couches in the room, her legs bent before her and her arms wrapped around them. "What's that superior tone? Absolute obedience to what I say, my ass." In a louder voice, "They symbolize our power to compel our Servants up to three times. Of course I know that."

The Servant sighed. "Listen to me," he said in a calm and not unkind voice. "Command Seals compel a Servant to perform a specific action. For example: I am totally incapable of teleporting away from this place, however, if you order via Command Seal it would use both our mana to make the teleport possible. The three Seals are the crystallization of High Magic overcoming the limits of flesh and blood. Oh, well, I suppose that number has been reduced to two now."

"I know all that, so what?" Rin responded defensively, her cheeks coloring with a blush. She lifted her knees and hid her face slightly with them. "I still have two Command Seals I can use. Besides, the first Seal worked. I didn't waste it."

"I must admit, I miscalculated a bit. With vaguely worded orders, Command Seals are less effective. Which is exactly what happened with your order earlier. Even a hundred Command Seals could not cause true, absolute obedience in all words and actions."

"Then you're saying the Command Seal I used on you earlier was pointless?"

"Yes, normally that would be the case. However, it would seem that your skill as a mage is extraordinary."

"Are you flattering me?"

"No, that's what I miscalculated. Since your order, I've felt a powerful compulsion to obey you. Very annoying."

Rin rose in surprise. "Wait, um, what are you saying?"

"I take back what I said, Master. You may be young in years, but you're really an outstanding mage. I made a mistake in looking down on you as just a helpless child and trying to keep you from fighting." The Servant put his hand to his heart and bowed respectfully, much like a knight of legend. "I apologize to you for that."

"Then you acknowledge me as your Master even without me using a Command Seal?"

"Of course I do. I had just been summoned and was not fully acclimated. But we are now fully connected. As a powerful mage, you can sense the bond between us through our pact."

Rin closed her eyes and let her awareness extend, sensing the connection and the flow of mana from Master to Servant, the symbiotic connection that marked the companions of the Holy Grail War.

"Yes," Rin said. "Our pact. Oh, that's right. Servants are summoned by the Holy Grail but it's not the Grail that anchors them to this world."

"Right, a Master's power does. As you know, Servants need mana from their Masters to stay in this world. My mana feed from you is satisfactory. No doubt, you are a first rate mage."

Rin blushed at the compliment, but then regained her composure and crossed her arms before looking away.

"It's too late to score points with silly flattery," she told the Servant. Then something dawned on her that the excitement from before had completely driven from her mind and she turned to face the Servant again. "Wait, you aren't a Saber?"

"I hate to disappoint, but I have no sword."

"Which means that you're the Archer. Boy did I blow it. I used all those gems and still didn't get the Saber."

"To bad for you I'm not the Saber."

"Well, it was an awfully painful blunder to be sure. But I'm completely to blame." It was just then that she felt something off about the room and she turned to face the Archer again.

He'd crossed his arms and closed his eyes as Rin spoke. He opened one eye and said, "I will make you rue those words. Apologize all you want, I won't forgive you."

Rin looked at the Servant for a moment, before the intent behind his words clicked and she felt like an incredible fool. How stupid could she be? Her Servant was standing right there and she had basically just told him that he was worthless to her.

Rather than apologize, she took a different tact. She smiled and skipped until she was within his field of view. "Very well, just see to it that I regret my words, Archer. When you do, I'll be willing to apologize to you."

Archer smiled. "Good. Just don't forget, Master."

As they stood there, the promise struck, Rin suddenly felt a flash of agony on the back of her left hand. It was so sudden and so intense that she let out a small shout of pain and collapsed onto the floor before Archer.

"Master?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"My- my hand," she gasped as the pain grew even more intense. It felt as though molten lead was being poured onto the limb.

She grasped her left wrist with her other hand and watched as bright blue light began to run across her hand. Where the light moved, her hand burned the most. The stream of energy twisted and curled and formed a perfect circle and then criss-crossed until a pentacle formed, each tip of the star meeting with the outer circle.

As the pentacle finished forming, it shone with silver white light and another person materialized by the window.

Archer reacted instantly, moving to cover Rin with his form. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The new figure was male, and stood well over six feet tall. He had definite muscle across his body, like someone who ran marathons on a very frequent basis while still being able to bench press a considerable amount as well. He wore black pants and hiking boots, as well as a dark t-shirt. He also wore a long, black, leather duster with a matching leather hat.

In his right hand was a quarterstaff made of oak with runes and sigils carved into the wood. Each of his fingers bore interwoven, triple band rings of silver and Rin caught sight of a bracelet on his left wrist made of multiple metals in the shape of medieval-style shields. His left hand was also covered with faded burn scars.

His eyes were dark, and sunken in a state of too-little sleep, but his jaw was strong and suggested an air of strength or stubbornness.

Rin recognized him. The outfit was different, as was the staff, but this was clearly the man she had dreamed of the night before. She had also seen him outside of the school after her dismissal of Shinji Matou.

The stranger examined the room and its occupants before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Hell's bells," the man complained. "I can't ever get a break, can I?"

"Who are you?" Archer demanded again.

The stranger paused before answering and Rin felt something pass over her. It was energy of some kind. It wasn't hostile, but curious.

"Harry Dresden," the stranger answered. "And what are you?"

"I am called Archer," the heroic spirit replied, wisely keeping his identity secret from a potential Servant.

"Oh, great, another superhero knock off," Harry Dresden replied and turned his gaze on Rin. "So you called me to fight in this 'war'?"

"You're a Servant?" Rin asked, getting up on her hands and knees. _Why would an enemy Servant be so free with his name?_

The man shrugged. "You tell me. As of right now I don't have a clue what's going on here."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _Names have Power…_ -Harry Dresden, multiple instances

"What do you mean: 'You don't know'?" Rin demanded in indignation. "You're a Servant, aren't you?"

The man sighed. "Look, kid," he said. "You can say that word all you want, but it's clear you mean something that I don't get." He pointed to his head. "I've just gotten a load of information shoved in here and none of it makes any sense. I've seen the Holy Grail, it doesn't grant wishes. If it did, no one would be standing here to have this talk."

"What?" Rin asked.

"For another thing," he continued. "I _shouldn't_ be standing here. I died. I know I did for real this time and my body is nowhere near Japan. You don't have the feel of a necromancer and your head is still on your shoulders, so the Wardens haven't killed you." Rin and Archer glanced at each other, utterly confused as the man continued his tirade. "And I was thinking, 'Hey, maybe I've finally done enough. Maybe Harry Dresden can finally have his rest.' and then I wake up here to fight some stupid war, _again_ , and to top it off I'm wearing a stupid hat. So why don't you start by telling me what you mean when you say: Servant."

Rin blinked, taken aback by the intensity of the man's sudden rant.

"Well," Archer said. "This is certainly turning out to be interesting." His stance had shifted into something less defensive and he'd crossed his arms. "A Servant without a clue about the Holy Grail war and willing to reveal his name openly before another Master and Servant? I'd say it was a fine catch if he hadn't just dropped in on his own."

Rin started to grow annoyed. She focused her attention on this 'Harry Dresden' and her eyes, the eyes of a Master, saw a list of his capabilities and stats. This proved two things to her.

1) He was, in fact, a Servant.

2) He was definitely _not_ a Saber.

Her ire grew exponentially. This Servant had to be one of worst possible. Sure, his stats weren't that bad, but to openly disregard the rules and expose himself like this was the epitome of ineptitude.

"A Servant," she answered through gritted teeth, "is a familiar summoned and given the form of a heroic figure and sent to fight in a great battle royale for the Holy Grail. Servants are brought into the world by a Master, who gives them mana and combat support. Does that answer your question?"

Harry Dresden snorted. "Yeah, heroic. That's me." The sarcasm was impossible to miss. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why fight? What's the point of this war? Or is it just your standard Thanksgiving get-together of freaks and heroes?"

"To be granted a wish by the Holy Grail." She didn't say 'duh'. She was pretty sure it was self-evident.

"So just grab the Mccoy, make your wish, and 'boom', war over."

"It doesn't work like that. That's against the rules."

The man laughed. "In my experience, wars don't really follow rules. I would kinda know."

Rin stomped her foot in sheer aggravation. "I am not going to stand here and explain this to you! You should know all this already! If you're so confused, why didn't your Master explain this to you already?!"

This night really couldn't get much worse. First, she'd bungled her own summoning, wasted a Command Seal, and now this idiot was wasting her time explaining something that his own-

Rin's train of thought stopped dead. She glanced down at her left hand and then back at the new Servant. He'd adjusted his position as she'd exploded at him and the moonlight reflected off of a silver necklace she hadn't seen earlier. The Servant wore a chain of silver around his neck, and at the end of that chain was a perfect circle with a pentagram within its bounds. The pentagon at its center held a ruby stone.

"You have got to be kidding me," she whispered. "You're my… second Servant. I have two Servants. But how? And why?"

Both Archer and Harry Dresden raised their eyebrows. Archer's eyes flicked between her left hand and Harry Dresden's chest. His own eyes widened at the realization.

Rin half-closed her eyes and focused on her mana. She felt a portion flowing toward Archer, the connection created by their pact. She also felt a similar flow toward the other Servant, maintaining his own physical form in the same way she was maintaining Archer's.

She opened her eyes and regained her composure.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It would appear that you're my Servant, somehow." Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Harry Dresden sighed and said, "Well, I'm a sucker for a girl in distress. No, it's fine. It's my fault too. Look, let's start over. Neither of us are handling this well." He stepped forward and offered his right hand, propping his quarterstaff in the crook of his left arm. "Harry Dresden."

Rin sighed and took his hand, "Rin Tohsaka." As their hands met, Rin felt something akin to a strong electric current run through her body.

He nodded. "You're a practitioner. Damn powerful one, too." He turned his attention to Archer and repeated the gesture. "It looks like we're going to be working together. Do I just call you Archer or do you have a real name?"

Rin looked to Archer as well, Dresden's question prompting Rin's own curiosity. "He has a point, Archer. I need to know who you are as well."

Archer let out a breath, but didn't respond.

"Archer?" Rin asked. Dresden sighed.

"Look," he said. "If it's because of me, I'm sorry. I don't have a clue what's going on here."

Archer looked Dresden up and down. "I will acknowledge you as an ally, Harry Dresden. But, cheapening my status as a heroic spirit is not something I can forgive. I don't like you, but I can work with you."

"Good enough for me, man," Harry said. He took the hat off of his head and pitched it to the other side of the room. The garment didn't even make it to the wall before it vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared on top of his head. "Oh, hell's bells," he complained and tried again. The hat returned as it did before.

"Archer?" Rin asked, ignoring Dresden's plight.

"I can't give you any information about who I really am," Archer finally replied. "For the simple reason that I myself don't know."

"What?" Rin demanded. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you messing with me, Archer? I can't believe this."

"I don't mean to insult you, Master, but it's because of your imperfect summoning. My memories are a jumble and my identity is all hazy." Rin stared at Archer as he continued. "Admittedly, those aren't important details so it's nothing to be concerned about."

"Those are important details! If I don't know what heroic spirit you are then I don't know how powerful you are."

"That's a trivial matter, Master."

"You call that trivial? How can I formulate a strategy without knowing my partners' strengths?"

There was a 'fwomp' as a ball of fire appeared in Dresden's hand, the Servant repeatedly trying to shove the hat into the fire and growing more and more frustrated as it repeatedly failed to be destroyed.

"You aren't off the hook, either," Rin told the man. "I need to know what you can do too."

Dresden looked up from his fruitless labor. He lifted the hand with the ball of fire over it and said, "I'm a wizard, kid. I'm also a Warden of the White Council."

"The White Council?" Rin asked. "Not the Mage's Association?"

Dresden sighed. "Let's just say I'm a combat wizard and leave it at that. If the Council is confusing for you, explaining Mab is going to be impossible."

"So you're a Caster, but I've never heard of you."

"I'm not sure if I should be happy or upset," Dresden replied.

"All right," Rin said. "Can you at least tell me your Noble Phantasm? I need to know what you can do."

The Caster gave Rin a long look, but avoided making eye contact. Then he said, very slowly and clearly, "Rin Tohsaka." A cold shiver ran down the young mage's spine and she got the very clear impression that he had just done something very dangerous. Then, in a normal tone, added, "That should be demonstration enough of my abilities. As for my Phantasm, it's… let's just say they're memories. Is that good enough?"

Rin, unnerved by the alien sensation, nodded. "But what about you, Archer? If I don't know who you are, then I can't design a proper strategy."

"Now listen," Archer answered. "I am a Servant summoned by you. Of course I am the most powerful."

Rin grew flustered again and turned away, moving toward the door. "Oh, well," she said. "I suppose it won't change the fact that no one else knows his true identity either." She beckoned her Servants to follow her. "For the time being, I'll overlook the issue of who you really are. Either of you." She'd made it to the stairs by now and started walking down them.

"And now, Archer. Time for your first job."

"Straight to business," Archer replied. "My Master is belligerent. Who is my enemy?" He barely managed to catch the broom and dustpan that twirled toward him.

"Clean the living room. You made that big mess so I expect you to make it spotless again."

"Now just one moment. What the hell do you think Servants are?"

"Familar's, right? Only these talk back and are unruly all the time."

"Well, she has me pegged," Dresden said to Archer.

Archer looked annoyed. "I will do as you wish, and you can go to Hell, Master."

"And you, Caster. You're going to spend the night reading up on everything you can. I can't have a Servant who's completely clueless about what's going on."

"How's that my fault?" Caster asked. Rin gave him a look. "Fine," Harry said. "Do you have a lab somewhere where I can work, at least?"

"In the basement. I want you completely up to speed by tomorrow morning. Got it?"

"Yes, oh great and powerful ball and chain. I shall do as you ask."

Archer snorted and the two Servants left to do their respective tasks. Rin, turned in for the night.

As she climbed into bed and formed her cocoon of blankets, she murmured, "It's time, Father. The battle I've spent the last 10 years preparing for will begin in the next day or so. This time, it's my Holy Grail War."

* * *

Rin woke up to see that her alarm clock read 9:05. "This is way beyond running a little late," she said and sighed. "I'll skip school." She turned her gaze downward, to the Command Seals on her hands. "Darn it. I summoned Archer instead of Saber last night somehow, with the extra, added bonus that he hasn't the foggiest idea who he is. And I have a second Servant who's a Caster as well. Ugh. All of this and I have a terrible headache."

She made her way downstairs. It took more effort than it normally did. Her motions were slow and her body was struggling to remain conscious.

"I'm exhausted," she said to herself. "Guess the summoning drained every bit of my mana."

She made her way into the living room and was, frankly, amazed. The living room was completely cleaned and the furniture repaired. "Woah. Maybe, he's not so bad."

"The sun came up long ago," Archer said. He was standing to one side of the room, carrying a tea set on a serving tray. "You really are quite the slob, aren't you, Master."

Rin sat down and Archer dutifully poured her a cup of tea. She took a sip and her eyes widened in surprise. "Delicious," she said. Then she caught sight of Archer's face. "What the heck are you smirking at? More importantly: have you managed to remember who you are?"

"Not yet."

"All right, fine. I'll figure out something to do about your amnesia in due time. Now get yourself ready to go out, Archer. I'm going to show you around the city."

"Before we do that, Master. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"I am? I thought we covered everything last night."

"We did, in a way, Master. You performed this with Caster, but not formally with me."

"With, Caster? Oh, I never formally introduced myself."

"That is correct, if slowly realized. You really aren't a morning person, are you? So, what shall I call you from now on?"

"My name is Rin Tohsaka. You can call me whatever you want."

Archer smiled and crossed his arms. "Then I will call you: Rin. Yes, the sound of it suits you perfectly."

Rin almost inhaled some of her tea and she began to cough. Once she'd settled down, she asked, "Where is Caster?"

"Still downstairs as you told him. Although, it appears as if he has been talking with someone. Though no one else has entered the building."

Rin raised her eyebrows and left to get dressed. Then she came down to her workshop to check in on her Caster. Her jaw fell open at what she saw.

"What the hell did you do?" she demanded.

The workspace and materials of her workshop had all been moved and rearranged to crowd the outer tables, while the center table had been completely cleared off and a perfect, pewter, scale model of Fuyuki, New City, and the surrounding area was spread across the table.

Dresden, dressed as he was the night before, except the duster was draped on the chair he was sitting in and the hat was missing, sat in a chair next to the main workspace, a stack of books next to him. A larger stack of books surrounded a bleached, human skull on another table.

The wizard looked up from his reading, a smirk on his lips. "Morning," he said, lifting up a coffee mug that sat on the table.

"Answer my question, Caster."

"I needed a workspace to study and beef up your defenses. You already had one, so it made my job simpler to use yours."

"What the hell is on the table?"

"A project of mine," Dresden answered. "It's called Little Chicago. Well, Little Fuyuki, in this case."

"Little Fuyuki? Kind of megalomaniacal isn't?"

"Nah," a new voice said. "None of the evil geniuses I ever worked with could've pulled that off. Though some of the psychotics could have."

Rin nearly leapt out of her skin as she turned to face the skull. Orange eyelights like candle flames shone from the skull's empty eye sockets. The eyelights flicked up and down Rin, approvingly. "Well, Harry. First the cookie and now this. You have a talent for finding the young, pretty ones don't you?"

"Bob!" Harry snapped.

"What?" the skull asked. "You can't tell me this isn't a trend, Harry. Sooner or later, this-"

Rin's Gundr shot struck the skull dead between the eyes and sent it flying off of the table into the corner of the room.

"OW!" the skull shouted. "That hurt!"

"Serves you right, Bob. I've been wanting to do that for years," Dresden said, heartlessly. Then he turned to face Rin. "Rin, that is Bob. Bob, this is Rin, the one who is currently keeping us both alive, so be polite."

"What is that thing?" Rin asked, her hand still aimed at the skull.

"Bob is, well, you would know him as a familiar. He's a spiritual advisor and a spirit of intellect. He helps me with planning out large scale magical constructs like Little Fuyuki. He's also one of the reasons I've been able to get fully acclimated to the situation."

"And, what have you done to my workshop?"

"Set up my lab. Caster class Servants have an ability to create a temple or a sanctuary where they can operate from and have the greatest advantage. Most Casters also have a remote vision capability. Little Fuyuki and Bob help me with both of those."

"How?" Rin asked.

"Well, I can't create a temple," Harry admitted. "The limits of my Noble Phantasm prevent me from calling on anything beyond a certain metaphysical mass. Demonreach is apparently beyond that threshold. I can, however, use Bob to help me set up wards and additional defenses around my base of operations. And Little Fuyuki can allow me to use my skill at Thaumaturgy to spy on parts of the city and even attack safely from here if I have a focus to use."

"So, you lose the benefit of a personalized, established position but gain the ability for subtle, long range attack and reconnaissance?"

"Exactly," Caster said.

Bob the skull let out a laugh. "You're assuming that Harry can pull off subtle," it added.

Rin decided to drop the matter for now. Harry hadn't messed up her workshop too much and there were more important things to do anyway.

"You finished the work I gave you?" Rin asked.

"Yep," Harry said in English, popping the 'p' at the end of the word. It was just then that Rin realized that Dresden's Japanese, while perfect in its use, was marred by an American accent. _More problems. Oh well, it isn't that serious._

"Good, then we're going out. I'm going to show you and Archer around the city."

"Cool," Harry said. He picked up his quarterstaff and threw on his leather duster. Then he hung a short rod of wood inside the duster and the hat materialized on his head. He sighed. "Can't you get rid of this thing? I hate hats."

Rin smiled. "I think it looks dashing on you." Then she went back upstairs. She heard Harry say, "Oh, shut up," to apparently no one.

 **Author's note: So I'm bouncing between a couple of different posting schedules. I'm thinking either once a week, posting on every Sunday, or twice a week, posting on every Sunday and Wednesday. I'm not completely sure which one I'll choose yet, but I'll let you all know once I've made up my mind.**

 **In other news, we have our first new character! This first extra Servant wasn't really a surprise for me. I'm a HUGE fan of** _ **The Dresden Files**_ **so when I started this back when it was a simple thought experiment, Harry was always there as my Caster.**

 **I hope you guys are interested and intrigued by what is being set up here. I know it takes a bit for the story to get rolling, just like with the visual novel.**

 **Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I'm excited to see what you're all thinking and guessing.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _Professionals are predictable. The world is full of dangerous amateurs._ \- Murphy's 7th Law of Combat

Rin spent the rest of her day showing Archer and Caster around the city. Despite the fact that she was using the opportunity to introduce two warriors to the terrain they would be fighting in, it was actually kind of fun.

It was like showing a couple of foreign friends the best places in the city she lived in.

As the sun was setting, Rin stepped into an open field surrounded by trees.

"This is New City's park," she said. "We've covered all the most important places now. What do you think?"

" _This is a large park, yet I don't see any people here. Is there any particular reason for that_?" Archer asked.

"Oh, you noticed that, huh? Actually, this place has a little bit of history. It was ten years ago, they say this whole area was swallowed up by this huge fire. The town was rebuilt later, but for some reason this area was left as it was. They apparently made it into a park because there was nothing but burned out ruins here."

" _Stained_ ," Harry Dresden answered. " _There's an energy here. Normal people don't recognize it, but their instincts tell them to avoid this place because of the power that's left over._ "

"It sounds like you've figured it out. As you suspect, this is where the final battle of the last Grail War was fought. That war ended here, on this spot and it's been empty ever since."

" _I see,_ " Archer said. " _That explains why this place is filled with so much malice_."

"Really? You sense that kind of thing?"

" _Thanks to our non-corporeal forms, our state of being is similar to grudges or obsessions. That leaves us sensitive to regrets in that vein._ "

" _I've always been able to sense energies like this,_ " Harry said. " _Emotions and magic can be, and often are, interwoven. Throw a bolt of fire when in a panic and the spell is much more powerful than it would be on a practice field._ "

" _This place is particularly special,_ " Archer continued. " _It's almost what we would call a reality marble._ "

"Hm?" Rin suddenly seemed extremely interested in something.

" _Rin, what is it?_ " Archer asked, concerned.

"Nothing. You just caught me off guard. I was simply amazed an Archer like you would know anything about reality marbles." She started walking again.

" _You find it odd that I know such things?_ " Archer asked, surprised.

"Why wouldn't I? Among mages, a reality marble is a taboo above all other taboos. The ultimate technique of all techniques." Rin knelt down and looked at her reflection in a little puddle of water. "No offense, but it doesn't make sense that you would know about them."

" _Rin,_ " Archer said, maybe a little exasperated. " _A heroic spirit is one who is skilled in both the martial and magical arts. You're free to think that I can only use a bow because I'm an Archer, but, please, don't take that view and underestimate the other Servants._ "

"Fine, you've made your point," Rin said defensively. "I spoke without thinking it through first. I'll be more careful from now on. Anything I should know about you, Caster?"

" _I am a drug dealer to tiny fairies,_ " Harry said with the auditory equivalent of a straight-face. Rin gave the air a flat look. " _Hey, you asked._ "

"Thanks for that wonderful insight, Caster." Rin said dryly. "Are you two happy now?"

" _Let me be frank_ ," Archer said. " _You are superior, but you have a flaw of belittling others as a result. Break that bad habit before you grow up._ "

"Break that what?!" Rin demanded. She shot to her feet. "You say the rudest things to me as if they were nothing!"

" _My apologies,_ " Archer said, and Rin could hear him smile. " _But it's not as though I called you an unruly tomboy._ "

" _Even though you act like one,_ " Dresden added.

" _I merely used the best expression that fit what I saw._ "

"Oh, that just makes it worse!" Pain suddenly flashed over the back of Rin's hands and she let out a cry of pain.

" _Rin?_ " Archer asked.

"Hush, Archer, my Command Seals are reacting to something. I'm certain we're being watched from somewhere nearby. Though I can't see anything. Can either of you?"

" _It's difficult. I can't sense anyone's eyes on us,_ " Archer said.

" _There's no sign of significant magical energy that would indicate a Servant or magical construct,_ " Harry answered.

"Which means we're being watched by a Master," Rin said.

" _This could be very bad. Have we been maneuvered into giving away our position?_ " Archer asked.

"Probably," Rin answered. "Still, it saves us the trouble of going out to look for him."

* * *

By the time the sun had set, Rin was standing atop one of the tallest buildings in the city, giving her Servants a wide, unobstructed view of the cityscape around her.

"What do you think?" she asked the astralized Servants. "We can get a great view from here can't we?"

Archer materialized and let out a sigh. "If we had come here in the first place, we wouldn't have had to walk around the city all day."

"Oh, stop your whining. All you get from up here is a panoramic view of the city. You can't get a feel for how a city is laid out unless you see it in person."

"That's not true for me. I am of the class called Archer. Bowmen must have excellent eyesight." Archer turned his gaze toward the distant stretch of the city. "Let's see. I can tell you exactly how many tiles are on that bridge."

"Damn," Harry said, materializing himself. "That's not bad at all."

"I'm amazed," Rin agreed. "The Archer class really is made up of archers."

"Rin," Archer said, "could it possibly be that you are putting me on just a little bit?"

"Don't be silly, of course not. Have you learned anything, Caster?"

The wizard shook his head. "Stars and stones, don't keep calling me that. It's way too weird. Call me Harry, or Dresden. And, actually, yes. This city has quite the number of ley lines running through it. If I'm ever in proximity of one of those, I might be able to tap into it in order to fuel my spells. Also, the ground here is..." he paused, looking for the right word. "Not exactly hallowed. More like it's been infused with energy. I've never felt that before."

"That'll be the Grail," Rin answered. "Fuyuki is a spiritually rich area. That's why the Holy Grail War is fought here. This is where the Grail will manifest, given enough time."

Rin stopped speaking and focused down and out from the building for a moment. She could just see a figure standing on a walkbridge looking up at the roof.

"It's him, I'm sure of it," Rin said to herself.

Archer perked up. "Is it our enemy?"

"No, it's just an acquaintance." Rin walked away from the edge of the roof as she spoke.

"Anybody we should know about?" Harry asked.

"No. He's a common citizen who has nothing to with all this."

"I neglected to ask you something," Archer said.

"What?"

"Rin, you were vigorously trained from an early age to be a Master. And you went along with that, correct?"

"That's right. The dream of winning the Holy Grail has been with the Tohsaka family for many generations."

"Good then. I expect you know what your goal is. I cannot entrust my blades to you unless I know what you wish for. Rin, what is your wish?"

"Wish? I don't really have one."

Harry burst out laughing as Archer asked, "You don't?" with considerable surprise. "But that's impossible. The Grail is an omnipotent cup that can grant any desire. You can even conquer the whole world for yourself."

"I'll pass," Rin said. "Cause conquering the world sounds like a total pain. And I don't see the point of wishing for dumb things like that."

Harry started laughing harder. "You're telling me," he said between laughs. "That you're taking part in a battle to the death because of principle?"

"I'm fighting because there's a battle to be fought. And won."

"Wait, are you serious?" Archer asked.

"Yes," Rin answered. "I'm fighting to win, that's all."

Harry let out a sigh. "You realize that's a pretty stupid reason to fight, right?"

"What?" Rin asked.

The laughter had vanished from Dresden by now, and he spoke soberly. "I'm not going to ignore your tactical opinion in the fights to come, but what you just said tells me you've _never_ seen a war. War is ugly and it isn't a game. You never start a war without a damn good reason."

In that moment, Rin was struck by how old Dresden looked right then. The dark spots around his eyes, eyes that were hard with terrible experience. Rin remembered that she knew nothing about this Servant that was to fight at her side, and that that ignorance was something she would have to rectify soon.

"I want you to think real hard about what you've signed up for, kid," Dresden said. "Because whatever you think is going to happen, it's not going to be even close to what you expect it to be." Then he dematerialized.

* * *

As Rin was making her way home, she passed by the Matou mansion and spotted someone she didn't want to run into.

She hurriedly moved until she was out of sight, and able to watch what was happening.

" _Rin, why are you hiding?_ " Archer asked.

"It's someone I know," she whispered in answer. "I played hooky from school today, so I don't want to run into anyone."

Down the street was a tall man with short, blonde hair and wearing designer clothing. He was speaking with Sakura, but was too far away for Rin to hear what was being discussed.

A moment passed and the blonde man walked past the girl, their business apparently concluded. The man passed near where Rin was hiding and then turned the opposite corner and walked away.

Once the coast was clear, Rin set off for home.

* * *

The next day, Rin bit the bullet and called Kirei Kotumine.

"Kirei, it's me," she said when the fake priest answered. "I've sworn a pact with the Archer. Please officially list me as a Master.

"Very well," Kirei said. "What are your plans then? Would you care to stop by for a short visit? I have something for you that your parents left in my care."

"Are you talking about my father's will? If so, I already deciphered it and found what he left. Besides, there's something as Overseer you should know about. I have a second Servant and I'm not at all sure how."

"I see," Kirei said. He didn't sound surprised. Then again, Kirei sounded less emotional than a dry book, so that wasn't new. "That is in keeping with what the other Masters have told me."

"What?!" Rin shouted at him. "Don't you think that's something you should have told me?!"

Kirei's voice didn't change, but Rin could swear she heard him smirk. "You weren't a Master yet. And these secondary Servants appear to be distributed at random. None of the other Masters have had any control over which class their secondary Servant has been. This was the same for you as well, correct?"

"Yes, I drew a Caster as well as the Archer."

"Very well. If you want to talk, you can always come visit."

"I'll stop by if I'm ever in the mood. So see to my listing, okay?" She hung up before Kirei could say anything else.

Rin set out and Archer's voice came to her. Servants could communicate telepathically with their Masters while in both physical or astral forms. They could also speak aloud while astralized, though that was almost never done.

" _Are you going to school?_ " Archer asked.

"Yes. Why, is that a problem?"

 _"No, but isn't it difficult to prepare for unexpected attacks in a school with a lot of people?_ "

"That's the point. We avoid battles with other Masters while in public. So I think we're pretty safe in a school. No one would try a sneak attack in a public place like that."

" _And if any of the other Masters are monumentally stupid?_ " Dresden asked.

" _Or if you find another Master in this 'haven' of yours?_ " Archer added.

"That won't happen. There's only one mage family in this entire city besides the Tohsakas. That family is a shadow of its former self. They could never produce a Master."

" _So what you are saying is that there is indeed another mage at your school, but this person possesses insufficient mana to ever become a Master_ ," Archer said.

"Exactly."

" _Am I the only one seeing the flaw that such a person could try and get the power from elsewhere?_ " Dresden asked. " _If this mage can pull that off, then they're capable of becoming a Master. And what if there are other mages you don't know about at your school?_ "

As Rin walked onto her school's campus she felt a wave of energy that was just… wrong. She stopped dead in her tracks as the sensation fully enveloped her senses.

" _Told you_ ," Dresden said.

"Shut up," Rin snapped and hurried inside so that she could change her shoes and find somewhere private where she could speak to her Servants.

"This is more than just a little pocket of stale air," she said by a deserted exit from the school. "Can you tell if a bounded field has already been set up here?"

" _It's not complete yet,_ " Dresden said. " _but someone has been very busy getting this set up."_

" _To act so boldly,"_ Archer said _, "this person is either a heavy-hitter,_ "

"Or is a complete novice," Rin finished. "It's a third-rate hack if the field can be sensed by others. It's sloppy, a first-rate mage stays hidden until they're ready to strike."

" _Third-rate hacks can still kill you,_ " Dresden warned. " _I've dealt with enough of them to know. Plus, this field, even in its incomplete state, seems more powerful than any chump Sorcerer could pull off._ "

" _Okay, Rin, what is your plan?_ " Archer asked.

"I don't give a damn whether this person is first-rate or third. Whoever dared to start putting up crude garbage like this in my territory gets taken out, end of story."

" _I can get behind that,_ " Dresden said, his voice coming out much colder than it had been before. For a second, Rin thought the temperature might have dropped slightly.

"After school, we'll start by examining the bounded field," she said. "We'll decide on whether to remove it or not once we know what kind of field it is."

Someone dropped a stack of papers behind her and Rin turned to look. "We'll talk later," she said and then moved to help the girl who'd dropped the stack of paper. "Here, let me help with that, Sakura."

"Oh, Miss Tohsaka," she said, then she smiled. "Thank you so much for your help, really."

"It's no problem at all. So are you taking these to your class?"

"No. To Mr. Kuzuki. He told me to bring them back because there was a typo."

"Kuzuki is a perfectionist alright."

Something flashed across Sakura's face as she and Rin moved to pick up the same sheet of paper and their eyes fell onto each other's hands.

Sakura's hand had a barely visible mark, while Rin's had her Command Seals. Neither commented on what they saw, but Rin made a mental note to keep an eye on Sakura to see what the mark might mean.

As their hands touched, Rin felt something. Almost like a sudden spark, then nothing else that was unusual.

 **Author's note: I've decided that, for now at least, I'll be posting twice a week. Post days will be Sunday and Wednesday.**

 **There's really not that much to say about this chapter. It's pretty straight-forward. I hope the Dresden fans in the crowd are enjoying the show thus far, and are spotting the little signs I'm leaving as to what our intrepid wizard can use.**

 **Also, thank you all so much for coming and reading this story. My view count sky rocketed last chapter, and I'm hoping you all are having a great time with the story.**

 **As for what you said, Guest, you are completely correct. I have definitely not limited myself to anime characters. I think I've indulged in just about every entertainment medium for our new characters. Please feel free to leave a guess in the reviews. I'm really interested to see who can figure them out. I'll even give you a clue: The secondary Servants are not simply selected at random. They follow the same rules for summoning that the primary Servants do, which are in Chapter 2 (technically 3 by story system here). Good luck!**

 **See you Wednesday! Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _No plan survives first contact with the enemy._ \- Popular aphorism

Once night had fallen, Rin made her way through the school, finding and scanning the sigils that had materialized within and on the building.

"That's seven with this one," she told her astralized Servants. "Though this one seems to be the trigger point. I've never seen or even heard of writing like this."

" _It's from an ancient age,_ " Dresden supplied. " _A time where gods and men walked the earth together and creatures of darkness did not have to hide their true forms. A language without name or ever used by mankind. No human created this._ "

"And how would you know that?" Rin asked.

" _A little bird told me_ ," Harry answered.

"Darn it," Rin said. "This is way over my head. You already know what kind of bounded field this is, right? If this bounded field is ever activated, it will literally dissolve every human inside of it to nothing.

"This is soul eating. A fortress of blood and horror and pain that dissolves any body within the field and harvests its soul. As for who or what might want souls the answer is obvious. It must be a Servant.

"Would your kind do such a thing?"

" _Yes, we would,_ " Archer answered. " _We are fundamentally non-corporeal beings. Just as your kind partakes of meat as nourishment, Servants partake of minds and souls. In other words, the more of both we ingest the greater our mana stores become._ "

"You mean the amount of mana that Masters supply their Servants is not enough?"

" _It's not that it is not enough, but that more is always better. It is basic strategy for a Master to try and get as much mana as possible for his Servant. In that sense this bounded field is highly effective._ "

" _All it takes is the annihilation of a school full of children, but why let something like morals get in the way of tactical thinking?_ " Dresden replied, the sarcasm and disgust in his response blending together well.

"That's totally disgusting to me," Rin agreed. "Never say such a thing again, Archer."

" _I agree,_ " came the reply. " _I would never do something like that._ "

Rin smiled in relief. "Dresden, does your experience lend you any ideas on how we could dismantle the field?"

" _Plenty_ ," the wizard replied. " _It would blow the school into orbit, but it could be done. There's just no simple way to undo a working with this much juice without all that energy going absolutely everywhere. This actually feels like some upper tier stuff._ "

"Let's erase it then. I may not completely undo it, but I can throw a wrench in the works."

"What, you're gonna erase it now?" a new voice complained. "What a waste."

Rin spun and spotted a figure with blue hair in a ponytail and blue armor perched on a water storage tank, a red spear resting across the back of his neck. Rin stood there for a moment, weighing her odds and methods of approach.

"So, is this your handiwork?" she asked.

"No," the man replied amiably. "Stooping to dirty tricks is the role of the Master. My kind simply fight where and when we're told." He closed one red eye in a conspiratorial wink. "Am I right, my invisible buddy?"

Rin glanced to one side and didn't see either of her Servants material forms. "No way you can see him," she said, realizing that this figure might not be aware of her secondary Servant. "That means you're a Servant." One who had been eavesdropping for who knew how long.

"And if you know all of that, little girl, can I assume that you are my enemy?" the Servant asked.

Rin glanced around, gauging her surroundings. _Fenced in on four sides. We're at a disadvantage here._

"Impressive," the stranger said. "You seem like you're ignorant but it's obvious to me that you have the gist of things here. Damnit, I guess I really blew it." He twirled his spear as he rose to his feet and continued, "I shouldn't have spoken up. Curiosity got the better of me." He pointed his spear to his side and red light began to emanate from it.

Rin ran, and the Servant leapt down and cut the air over her as she ducked and rolled to one side. The Servant followed up with a series of slashes that Rin barely managed to evade. She knew he was playing with her. No Master could take on a Servant.

She channeled mana and fueled a pair of fast spells that reinforced her body and launched her forward, then up and over the protective fencing around the school's roof.

"Archer, handle the landing!" she called as she fell from the roof, adjusting her position in order to gain some control of her descent. Just before she hit the ground, Archer became semi-corporeal and caught Rin in his arms, then launched himself forward in a leap, carrying her with him. As he landed with a skid he released Rin, imparting his momentum to her as she hit the ground running.

Her transition, however, wasn't perfect and she stumbled before slowing down, breathing hard.

There was a sound behind her and she felt, more than saw, the attack coming. Then there was the clash of metal upon metal and Rin ran forward several more feet before she turned to examine the field of battle.

The enemy Servant stood there in a combat stance as Archer materialized between her and the enemy Servant. A curved, black blade was in his right hand.

"Archer," Rin whispered.

" _I'm on the roof of the school,_ " Dresden said to her. " _I'm ready for combat assistance when needed. I'm not much for finesse though. If you want precision you'll have to rely on Archer._ "

"Right," Rin muttered. "Keep an eye on the battle and let me know if there are any other Servants approaching. Everyone has gotten a second Servant, this one's Master included."

"All right," the enemy Servant said. "That's more like it. I like people who get right down to business."

"You're a Lancer class Servant," Rin said.

"Indeed," was the reply. "Now then, your Servant doesn't strike me as a Saber. What are you, buddy?" Archer simply stood there. "Huh, not the proper single combat type either. Which makes you an Archer." Lancer held his spear upright and his posture relaxed slightly. "Go on, take out your bow. I'll wait until you're ready." Archer simply stood there.

"Archer?" Rin asked. Her Servant turned his head slightly in her direction, not taking his eyes off of Lancer. Then Rin realized Archer was waiting for her order, as she had compelled him to do. It was time to make good on her promise.

"Archer, you'll get no assistance from me. Right here and right now, show me what you've got."

Archer smiled and power radiated off of him in a small gust of air. Then he simply vanished, leaving only a cracked section of ground where he'd been.

Lancer's eyes went wide and he spun his spear to block the strikes Archer, who was now in front of him, delivered. The two Servants surged around the track, their strikes more like blurs of color than real combat.

The two legendary warriors leapt and swung with unbridled ferocity, tearing apart the track until the melee eventually drove Lancer straight into the wall of the main school building.

"This is it, a battle between two Servants," Rin said to herself. Surprisingly, she got a response.

" _Yes,_ " a woman's voice said. " _This is a rare opportunity. To watch two warriors of old take part in the battle they excelled at in life. Though I must admit ignorance of your own Servant. Do not squander this chance, child._ "

Rin glanced around wildly, looking for the source of the voice, but there was no one else around.

A section of metal stands flew through the air and landed beside Archer who didn't even flinch at the approach of the metal. Lancer grinned and launched forward, now on the offensive. The Servant thrust his spear forward time and time again until he landed a strike directly against Archer's blade itself. The weapon flew from his hand and shattered from the force of Lancer's blow.

"Go to Hell," Lancer said and thrust his spear forward.

"Archer!" Rin called out. She caught sight of Archer's mouth moving and then another curved sword materialized in Archer's opposite hand.

Lancer let out a sound of surprise and quickly went defensive blocking the strikes Archer countered with. The impacts forced Lancer to fall back.

"A dual-wielder," he said. Archer didn't reply, instead moving into a ready stance, both hands now holding swords, one white, the other black. "So we have a mere bowman who thinks he's a swordsman!" Then the fight resumed.

Neither Servant pulled their blows and whenever one of Archer's swords was destroyed, another would instantly appear in his hand.

This prompted a response from Lancer after another extended melee. "27 blades? How many pieces do you have hiding under your sleeve?" Lancer demanded.

"What's the matter?" Archer answered. "Is wait and see your strategy now? Or are you just taking a little break?"

"Huh. Trying to provoke me? You're a sly old coot. Fine, how 'bout an introduction?" Lancer suggested. "What land's heroic spirit are you? I've never heard of a bowman who wields two swords."

"You, on the other hand, are identifiable," Archer replied. "Only the swiftest heroes are chosen to be spearmen. And you stand head and shoulders above them. There aren't even three spearmen of your skill in the world. Add to that the unbridled agility of a beast and that leaves just one."

"Ah, now you flatter me, Archer," Lancer said. He adjusted his stance and his spear burst into scarlet light. "All right, then, will you face my mightiest blow?"

"I won't stop you, I must defeat you sooner or later."

 _This is bad,_ Rin thought. _That massive amount of mana. He's clearly about to use his Noble Phantasm. I've gotta do something._

" _Damnit! Rin!"_ Dresden called. " _There's some-_ "

Lancer suddenly turned and shouted, "Huh, who's there?"

Rin followed his gaze and noticed someone running away from the fight and into the school building.

"A student? Someone was still in the school building?" Rin asked.

"So it would seem," Archer replied. "It saved my life actually."

"Wait? Where did Lancer go?"

"He chased after that person. He's a witness, so he probably went to eliminate him."

Rin gasped. "Follow him, Archer. I'll catch up with you."

" _I'm moving to intercept,_ " Dresden said.

 _Damnit! That was so careless,_ Rin berated herself as she ran into the school. _Eliminating any witnesses is the first rule of mages. I've always hated that rule, so I've always been extra careful._

Rin ran up the stairs in the building and had to stop to regain her breath.

" **Ventas Servitas!** " a voice bellowed and there was the howling of a powerful gale followed by shattering glass. Rin looked up and saw Archer standing in the hallway and a curse from an unseen Dresden.

Rin came to Archer's side, steeling herself for the sight she knew she would find. The body of the student lay in the middle of the hall, a mass of blood pooling out from his chest. Dresden stood over his body, checking for a pulse.

"Damnit," he said, his breath expanding before him in a cloud. "If I'd been just a few seconds faster." His voice was harder, more angry than she'd heard it before.

"Archer," Rin said, her voice cool and detached. "Go and follow Lancer. If we don't at least learn the face of his Master, this wasn't worth it."

Archer dematerialized without a word. Dresden didn't move.

"Don't blame yourself, Dresden," Rin said, her voice unchanged. "This is my responsibility." As she reached the corpse, Dresden rose and took a few steps away. Rin crouched down.

"Lancer pierced him with his spear," Dresden said. "If his heart is hit, there's no way to save him. None that I know of, at any rate."

The body let out a rasping breath, still clinging to the last threads of life.

"I'm sorry," Rin said to the student. "I'll sit with you until it's over." She turned him over so that she'd be able to see his face, to know when he had passed.

As his face was revealed, Rin let out a gasp of recognition and released the student, his body flopping onto its back. It was Shirou Emiya.

Rin's breathing quickened, not quite reaching sobs. "Oh, no. Why are you here? Why did you have to pick this hour, on this day to be _here_? What am I gonna do? How can I face her tomorrow?"

Wood creaked as Dresden clenched his staff, the noise making Rin glance at him. His eyes were shadowed, haunted, and in a flash of insight, Rin realized that this wasn't the first time her Caster had seen friends die.

That sight galvanized her and she pulled out the pendant her father had left her. A single gem with a golden hoard of mana.

"Yes," she said. "There's still a way."

"How?" Dresden asked.

"We're going to reconstruct his heart."

"You can do that?"

"Yes. Stand watch."

"Fuck that. I'm helping."

"How?"

"You just get started. When it's time, I'll show you the gift an Archangel gave me."

* * *

Rin was laying on the couch in the living room when Archer returned.

"I'm sorry," He said. "I failed. This Master has been very cautious."

"Oh, I guess I shouldn't have expected it to be so easy," Rin said, disinterestedly. She was lying on a couch in her living room staring at the ceiling as if it wasn't there.

There was a small clink as the gem she had left behind was lowered into her line of sight. "Ah," she added. "You went to get it for me."

She accepted the pendant from Archer who spoke up. "Don't lose it again. It doesn't… suit anyone but you."

"Really? Well, thanks a lot. As I thought, there doesn't seem to be any mana left in it."

There was the sound of thudding footsteps and the door to the living room burst open. Dresden stood there, his staff and rod in hand and said, "There's trouble. Your friend's been found. Lancer's after him again."

"How do you know?" Rin asked.

"I was watching him through Little Fuyuki. I kept some of his blood. We have to go now, or he's gonna die again."

"Wait, why do we have to?" Archer asked. "This isn't your burden to bear, Rin."

"After what it cost me to save his life, I'm not about to let him die all at Lancer's hands. We need to go now."

"No time to do it on foot," Dresden said. He slashed through the air with his staff and said, " **Aparturum!** " A doorway of light appeared and he turned to Rin and Archer. "Through the Way. Hurry!"

The group, pressed for time and options, walked through the door of light and suddenly found themselves on a street.

"He's here," Rin said. "I can sense Lancer nearby." Then she took off toward where she could feel Lancer's presence.

Harry and Archer suddenly looked at each other, both sensing the same thing.

"Come back, Rin!" Archer shouted. "I'm sensing more than one Servant!"

"You take front," Harry said. "I'll shield her until we can get out."

"Fine," Archer agreed.

Rin, by now, had turned the corner and kept running. She heard movement behind her and turned to see a figure in armor streaking toward her.

Archer landed next to her and shoved Rin back, intercepting the incoming attack with one of his blades. Something as strong and tight as a vice grabbed Rin and hauled her even further away from the fray, the young mage nearly flying off of her feet in the process. Dresden held his staff before himself, prepared for any attack sent toward them.

Rin looked past the wizard and saw that the figure in armor was, in fact, a woman. She had blonde hair and green eyes and held a weapon sheathed in air.

"It's her," she said in amazement. "It's the Saber."

 **Author's note: And thus, endeth the prologue content. I've always pictured this story using the Unlimited Blade Works openings, while, of course, editing in scenes for my additional characters.**

 **Now the war can officially begin. On Sunday we move to Shirou Emiya's story and the twists and turn THAT will take thanks to my meddling.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 _Your incredible destiny approaches… It's time to wake up…_ \- Hyrule Historia

It was probably the oddest dream Shirou Emiya had ever had.

A dream that often plagued him was the memory of that fateful night 10 years ago. The heat, the flames, the pain, and then… Kiritsugu. The day that changed his life forever. It was a dream he was used to, and had set himself down the path that would let him come to terms with the events of that day.

This was not that dream.

Another dream he'd consistently had was one of a sword. A golden weapon of breath-taking beauty and craftsmanship. A strong weapon, a regal weapon, a beautiful weapon, a tantalizingly familiar weapon.

This was not that dream.

This dream was a first for Shirou.

He was a spectator of a battle that blended epic conflict with unreality that bordered on surreal.

One combatant was a man wearing a green tunic over a chainmail shirt. The strangest feature about the young man was that he had long, pointed ears. Other than that detail, he appeared to be completely human.

He fought with an elegant sword with a purple hilt, the blade seeming to glow at times with the light of the sun, and a medium sized kite shield with an unfamiliar emblem emblazoned across it. At other times, however, he would pull other weapons or pieces of equipment out of seemingly nowhere in order to supplement his ability or counter a specific attack or environmental feature.

The second combatant fought and moved with inhuman strength and character, and fought with many different techniques and styles. He wore dark robes and a stone, lizard-shaped mask. He seemed to control some form of magic, because as the battle continued, he would create a strange glyph in the air behind himself and make the battlefield completely change.

The battlefield shifted into many different landscapes, from the inside of a volcano to a tower made of sparkling ice and everything in between. As the battle commenced, the strange figure's mask was destroyed piece by piece and the figure's sanity seemed to deteriorate in a direct relationship with his mask's condition.

The final stage of the battle was as straight up as it came. The elfin man's single sword and shield versus the strange man's erratic movements and twin blades on a field just outside of a grand castle surrounded by a strangely colored, diamond shaped barrier. Shirou couldn't help but admire the sheer skill of the fighters' dance.

As the fighters' clashing came to a crescendo a voice came to him.

"Shirou?"

Shirou let out a breath as the dream faded away from his mind.

The voice, a girl's voice, continued. "I'm sorry, but it's time to wake up."

He turned from his sprawled position on the cold stone floor and gazed up at the beautiful, purple haired girl that had woken him up. "Good morning, Sakura," he said.

Sakura was dressed in her school uniform, a ribbon tied into her hair on the right side near her face, and a kind smile.

"Hi, hope you slept well last night."

Shirou rose into a sitting position and resting his hand to his face, trying to finish coming out of the sleep he had been in. The dream had been so intense that it almost felt real.

"I'm really sorry. I should've been up and helping with the morning chores already."

"Don't worry about that, Shirou. You were up really late again, weren't you?"

"I was, but you know that's no excuse."

"I know, but let me handle all the morning chores for you today. I mean, if you leave this place messy again, Miss Fujimura will get really angry."

Shirou glanced around at the various equipment and parts that were scattered around the workshed. Half finished repair jobs and parts of his evening practice around him. "Yeah, you have a point," he admitted. "I don't want to piss her off."

"Okay," Sakura said as she made her way out of the workshed. "Breakfast will be ready in a minute, so hurry up." Then she left.

"Man, I fell asleep before finishing again," Shirou groused to himself. "I lack focus." He reached out a laid a hand on a metal rod that was behind him and touched it ever so briefly with his power before resigning himself and clearing up the workspace.

From there he made his way to the dojo and went through his morning workout routine. The exercise helped drive the remainder of the sleep from his mind, but also brought on contemplation of the dream he'd had.

The man wearing green… Who was he, and what was the sword he'd been using? It hadn't seemed natural, the way it would glow on its own.

After his workout, he got dressed and came to the kitchen and dining area of the large home. His home was a large, japanese-style mansion. It only had one floor, but was expansive and had several additional structures, such as guest houses, the shed where he worked on his his tinkering, and the dojo.

Sakura had apparently just finished the final preparation of breakfast and Taiga Fujimura was already sitting at the low table table, her face buried in a newspaper. The woman was wearing blue pants, a yellow shirt with green, horizontal stripes, and a teal colored sweatshirt. Her hair was short and light brown and Shirou knew that her eyes were a similar color.

"Thanks, Sakura," Shirou said. "But you really don't have to do all this."

"Don't be silly. It's no trouble at all," came Sakura's instant reply. "I do this because I enjoy it."

"Good morning, Fuji-nee," he greeted the older woman.

"Good morning," came Fujimura's rather dull sounding voice. Odd. She was usually much livelier than that. Shirou dismissed the idea. Fujimura was always acting strange in one form or another.

He and Sakura gave thanks for the food and then set into their morning meal. Shirou added some sauce and took a bite of his food. His entire body violently spasmed in reaction, rolling backward and sprawling across the floor.

The taste wasn't off, and it wasn't wrong. It was flat-out _awful_. What he had thought had been soy sauce and had spread liberally over his food had apparently been something far more insidious.

"What the hell?" he asked from his position flat on the ground. "It's worcestershire sauce. Talk about a bad combination, who could eat this stuff?"

At that, Fujimura burst into a laugh that was fully of the energy that had been missing in her earlier remarks. "Hahaha! I snuck in and swapped the labels on the sauce bottles earlier!" she proclaimed proudly, launching to her feet with glee. Then she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Who pulls a stunt off like that first thing in the morning?" Shirou complained, rising to his knees. "I can't believe you're gonna be 25. But I guess you'll just be the same ol' Fuji-nee."

"You deserved it!" she chanted, with all the maturity of a grade school child, and wiggling in place with glee. "It's payback from yesterday!" Then she returned to her sitting position and began to scarf down her food.

Sakura, who had been sitting in utter shock at the rapid sequence of events leapt to the rescue. "Shirou, drink tea."

"I was thinking you seemed awfully quiet," Shirou continued as he made his way toward Sakura and the offered tea. "Turns out it was because you were plotting this prank." He took a drink from the offered cup which helped purge his pallet.

"Damn straight I was," Fuji-nee replied. Then she jabbed her chopsticks at him. "And thanks to you I don't have nearly enough time to score some tests this morning. So I gotta run or I'll never get it done!" With that, Fujimura inhaled several more servings of food in about a second, gave her thanks to Sakura for the meal and zoomed out of room in a blur of motion.

"Uh, you're very welcome I guess," Sakura said, more out of a sense of politeness rather than because Fujimura was there in the room.

After they finished their own meal, Fujimura became the center of discussion.

"Damn that Fuji-nee. I know she's the landlord's granddaughter but why does she have to eat here every single day? She's no better than a freeloader."

"Did you do something to her yesterday that made her want to pull that prank?" Sakura asked.

"I accidentally called her by her nickname," Shirou admitted.

"If that's the case than you deserved it. You should be careful, she hates her nickname and she especially hates it when she hears it coming out of your mouth."

Shirou didn't reply, mostly because Sakura was right. The silence allowed the television, which had been playing in the background, to come to their attention.

The news story was about another gas leak report from an office building in New City.

"Hear that? There's another gas leak in New City. That's disturbing news. We gotta be careful too."

"You don't need to worry about that," Sakura replied. "See, I double check the gas belt every day. So we're safe!" she added proudly.

"Uh, I think you missed the point," Shirou said, but dropped the discussion.

They finished clearing up the kitchen and then made their way to school. Once they entered school grounds, Shirou and Sakura separated.

"Well, work hard at club practice," Shirou said. Sakura was a member of the archery club, which held morning and after school practices. Shirou himself had been a member at one point, but… circumstances had prompted him to quit.

"Okay, I will, but… Why don't you maybe stop by the dojo this morning?" Sakura asked, her tone, not so much wary as it was hopeful and hesitant.

"Thanks, but I have to go to the student council office," Shirou told her.

Sakura turned her head away at that. "Oh, yes, yes, of course. I'm so sorry. Please forget I asked." She looked back and said, "Well, I should get going. I'll cook something you for dinner you like tonight, okay?" Then she hurried away.

* * *

"The school's budgeting priorities are completely out of whack," Issei, the student council president, said. He and Shirou were sitting in a club room. Issei was in a chair while Shirou sat on the ground, a broken space heater in front of him.

"Yeah, athletic clubs get most of the budget, everybody else gets the crumbs," Shirou agreed.

"And so the non-athletic club rooms are in bad shape. They've given zero thought to how to deal with our heater problem."

"You're kidding me, there are more broken heaters?" Shirou asked, incredulously.

"There are."

Shirou ran his hand over the heater he was working on. "Like I figured, this one's just showin' its age."

"Yes, but can you fix it, Emiya?"

"I can," Shirou confirmed.

"That's a relief," Issei said.

"I'll have it fixed in a jiffy. Issei, could you wait outside?"

"Of course, I'll get out of your way," Issei said and left the room.

Shirou waited until Issei shut the door before turning his attention back to the heater.

"Okay," he said and rested the tips of his fingers against the heater. Then he used his magic. He focused his mana, creating the magic circuit like Kiritsugu had taught him and sent a pulse of power through the machine before him.

With that pulse of power came an understanding of the machine's construction, understanding down to the smallest detail.

 _There are two spots where the heating element is about to break,_ he thought. _The heat transfer pipe is still good. And I can patch the power cord with electrical tape for now._

Armed with the understanding his magic gave him, he set to work on repairing the heater the old fashioned way with his tools and tape. There wouldn't be any need to use his other talents. And given his skill with magic, there was still a chance that he would simply make the problems worse. His talents with reinforcement magic were rather hit-or-miss. More miss than hit, if he was being honest.

As he was wrapping the power cord in electrical tape he heard Issei start speaking outside.

He managed to catch the name "Tohsaka" and the student council president started speaking, more polite sniping, with the girl. Shirou packed up his tools and picked up the heater, deciding that it would be best to save Issei from his current predicament.

"Okay, Issei, I fixed it," Shirou said and set the heater outside of the room.

"Oh!" Issei started and then moved over to Shirou. "Thanks a lot. I asked you for your help and then you ended up doing everything. I'm very sorry Emiya."

"It's okay, where's the next one? We don't have a lot of time."

"Right. It's over in the AV room. They say it's been acting up lately, but I think it's finally lived out it's lifespan."

Shirou spent the moment Issei was speaking looking over at the girl he'd been speaking to. Her blue eyes, long, dark hair, and trademark long, red coat overtop her school uniform. The twin, black bows in her hair made a pair of tails that fell to help frame her face. She seemed more… surprised than irritated at Shirou presence.

"If it's dead I can't fix that," Shirou said to Issei. "Why don't you buy a new one? That'd be quicker."

"That's true, but I'd appreciate if you took a look at it anyway. I mean, it looked lifeless to me, but you may be able to see if its just faking it."

As Issei spoke, Rin Tohsaka stepped past them and continued to make her way down the hall.

"Okay, I'll give it a try," Shirou said. He shifted slightly toward Tohsaka and then stopped. "I didn't know you came to school this early," he said casually. She didn't reply and Shirou took the heater back into the student council office and followed Issei to the next heater that needed his attention.

He spent the remainder of his morning free time moving from room to room and examining the various heaters and other ailing devices within the school. He wasn't able to finish the entire list before homeroom.

"The art club's stove will have to wait until lunch," Shirou told Issei as they entered their classroom.

"Alright," Issei agreed. Just then, another voice cut into their discussion.

"You're quite the busy bee this morning, Emiya." Shinji Matou stood there, twirling a strand of his dark purple hair around one finger as he spoke. "I was wondering what you'd been up to after quitting the club. You're the student council president's errand boy?"

Shirou lifted his arm in a conciliatory gesture even as Issei inhaled in order to return fire. "If you need anything just let me know, Shinji. If it's something I can help with, I will. You were never good at mending bows. Or restringing them, for that matter."

Shinji looked shocked for a half moment before growing annoyed and snapping, "I don't need or want your help. Besides, you're not a club member anymore so stay out of the dojo if you know what's good for you." Then he stormed off toward his desk.

"Matou's a real jerk," Issei commented. "Talking to you that way when he was the one who single-handedly drove you from the club."

"It's okay," Shirou said. "It's just how he is. You get used to it the longer you know him."

"Really, you do, do you?" Issei asked in a dry voice.

"Yes, I'm afraid you do." The bell for homeroom rang and Shirou added, "Look out, Miss Fujimura is about to barrel in."

The two sat down and the bell rang again shortly thereafter. Most homeroom teachers would've been in their appropriate classrooms by now performing their duties. Class 2-C's was, as usual, not.

It was also, predictably, the sound of rapidly running steps that preceded the arrival of one, Taiga Fujimura.

The classroom door suddenly slid open and Taiga nearly leapt into the room with a shout of "Good morning!" She managed to finish speaking before the sheer momentum of her arrival caused her to fall and slam her head directly into the corner of her desk.

This was, sadly, not unusual. The deadpan inquires after her health and comments about this trend were more than enough proof that the students were quite inoculated to their homeroom/ english teacher's antics.

The students began to discuss whether or not she'd managed to kill herself this time and tossed a few ideas about how to determine if Taiga was dead or simply unconscious. The plan to throw something at her was quickly dismissed in favor of the more effective, and more terrifying, option.

A hush fell over the classroom, and the collected students all whispered one word: "Tiger."

No response.

"Tiger," came the word, slightly louder.

No response.

"Wake up, Tiger!" the class called out.

Taiga Fujimura shot to her feet faster than a blink of the eyes, her eyes blazing and her teeth seeming to morph into a collection of razor sharp fangs as she shouted: "WHAT?!"

The more mathematically minded members of the class were likely calculating the odds of various classmate's survival at that moment when she blinked and glanced around in confusion.

The class held their collective breath and waited to see what their homeroom teacher would do next.

After a few nerve-wracking seconds, Taiga did nothing. Then she shook herself and began to fulfill her role as their homeroom teacher.

The class let out their breath, relieved that Fujimura seemed to have completely forgotten what had just happened.

* * *

Shirou took his lunch in the student council office with Issei.

"Emiya," Issei said over his food. "You better hurry and eat before the lunch break ends and you have to go back to class."

"It's okay. I'm just about finished." Shirou was busy working with his tools.

"I can't believe you're not only fixing heaters, but also personal items for other people."

"Like they say: 'In for a penny, in for a pound,'" Shirou quoted.

"I know you like being Mr. Nice Guy, and being helpful is great, but you should really learn to say no sometimes. You take 'turn no one away' way too far."

"Do I really look that unprincipled to you?" Shirou asked.

"Look, you're opening yourself up to being taken advantage of by the inconsiderate. You could think about turning people down once in awhile."

"I'm afraid not, Issei. What's wrong with helping others? As heir to a temple you shouldn't think that."

"Emiya, I'm just saying that you take it too far. If you keep going like this, it'll burn you out."

"Thank you, that's duly noted," Shirou said as he finished working. "There. I'm all done."

* * *

Shirou's school day went as normal, except for his walk to home. He'd left school late because he'd been fixing the remaining heaters and then he'd set out for home. As he walked beside the road he spotted a girl wearing a long, purple jacket and hat. Her hair was completely white.

She began to walk toward him and as they crossed paths she spoke.

"If you don't summon yours soon, you're gonna die, big brother."

Shirou stopped dead and spun around, but the girl was gone. What had she meant by 'big brother?'

Once he got home he immediately received a scolding from Fujimura over the dinner table.

"You should really come home early at times like this. It's dangerous out there. Weren't you listening to me in homeroom?"

"Well, um, I had to do some errands," Shirou answered lamely.

Fuji-nee sighed. "Don't tell me you were helping someone again. You're a lot like Kiritsugu, trying so hard for others, and it makes me worry about you."

"Excuse me, Miss Fujimura?" Sakura, who was eating with them as usual, asked. "I've been wondering if Shirou has always been this way?"

"Yeah, for as long as I've known him. As you can see, Shirou can't turn away anyone who's in trouble. I guess that's his personality. 'To help the weak and crush the strong' he used to say. When he was younger, Shirou wrote: 'My dream when I grow up is to become a hero of justice.' It was quite an essay."

"Sounds like he was amazing when he was young too," Sakura said.

"Well you can chalk all that up to Fuji-nee," Shirou replied. "When kids are around immature adults, they try not to follow them too close." A smirk touched Shirou's lips as he added, "Now if you don't agree with me, cook your own damn meal for once."

"What?! You bring me to the brink of tears!" Fujimura cried out, her voice full of sobs. Then she grabbed her bowl and added, "Sakura dear, refill please!" in her normal, incessantly cheerful voice.

Once the meal was done, Shirou bade Sakura and Fujimura farewell and wandered around the yard before heading to the shed to practice his magic.

His practice ended in failure and he let out a frustrated sound.

"Damn, I failed again. This is so basic, I can't believe I still can't do it. I'll always be a novice." He laid out on his back on the cold, stone floor. "This is so frustrating. I can't figure it out. How am I gonna become a hero of justice?"

 **Author's note: Whelp, I'm fairly certain most of you should know who Shirou's second Servant is by now. And, yes, it's** _ **exactly**_ **who you think it is. :D But, more on that point in day 3.**

 **This chapter was actually fairly fun to write. Taiga is certainly a fun character to channel and embrace. The closest I've ever come to writing a character as… energetic as Taiga Fujimura was my RWBY OC Reginald Aurum. And he's** _ **always**_ **a treat to write.**

 **Funnily enough, this day, as well as day 2, are the shortest days I've written. Each one only takes up a chapter when they're from Shirou's point of view. The current record for a single day in chapter count is six chapters for one day, and most of that is a single night.**

 **I suppose one point I should bring up is why I didn't cover Shirou's dream of the fire. I didn't write it because I'm operating under the premise that Shirou's history has been covered fairly effectively in the visual novel as well as the anime series (and even other fanfictions). Shirou himself will inevitably discuss the fire and his past in discourse with the other characters, but covering it here and in the next chapter seems unnecessary. Please let me know if you think I've missed something because of that.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 _If you want to know what a man's like, take a look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals._ \- Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Shirou spotted the bruise when he and Sakura were cooking breakfast the next morning. Eggs were sizzling in the pan on the stove and as Sakura was pulling plates out of a low cabinet, Shirou spotted the dark, faded mark on the back of her left hand.

"Wait, Sakura," he said.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"What happened to your hand?" Sakura lurched to her feet and covered the mark with her other hand. "It's Shinji again, isn't it?" Shirou asked, anger making his words sharper. "What's he thinking, raising a hand to his sister?"

"N-no, my brother didn't hurt me," Sakura said quickly, her hands moving to the center of her chest as she spoke. "I got this, when I tripped and fell earlier today."

Sakura was many things, but she wasn't a good liar.

"You can't get a bruise like that from falling," Shirou pointed out. Sakura seemed to deflate and she turned away. "I knew it."

"But my brother had nothing to do with this, honest!" Sakura said, facing Shirou again. "I got hurt by myself and that's all."

Shirou's anger fell away and shock came in to fill the void, followed by resignation. "If that's what you say happened, then I'll just leave it at that," he told her.

"It is. I'm very sorry, Shirou."

"I don't get it, what are you apologizing for, Sakura? Shinji's the one to blame."

"Oh, Shirou! Is that your famous rolled omelettes I smell?" Fuji-nee asked, stepping into the room at that moment. There was an awkward silence before Shirou answered and got the morning routine rolling again.

The rest of Shirou's morning was uneventful, except for the presence of police at a home on the way to school.

It wasn't until lunch that there was any break to his usual pattern.

Shirou hadn't brought a lunch with him, so when Issei asked if they would eat together, he had to turn him down.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, Issei. I'm getting food at the cafeteria,"

"But you never eat in there," Issei pointed out. "Did something happen?"

"No, not really."

"Very well."

Just then, their ethics teacher, Kuzuki, called for Issei and the student council president left to speak with him.

Shirou took that moment to go to the cafeteria. As he was selecting his meal ticket, someone spoke to him.

"Going for the chef's choice for lunch today, huh?" Shirou turned to face a girl with brown hair that fell to her shoulders and golden-brown eyes. "Don't you usually have lunch with the student council president?" Mitsuzuri continued.

"Yeah," Shirou answered and grabbed his ticket. Mitsuzuri followed him to the line of students receiving their lunches and Shirou asked, "Hey, Mitsuzuri? Has Sakura seemed okay to you lately?"

"Sakura? Yeah, she's been practicing her heart out!" she answered. The two turned in their tickets and found an empty table. "It's her brother that's been the problem," she continued, once they had settled down. "He's been tearing into the first year boys something awful."

"What for?"

"From what I hear, he got into it with Tohsaka and got shot down pretty hard."

"Tohsaka?!" Shirou exclaimed.

"Hey, keep your voice down."

"Oop. Sorry."

"Well, anyway, Shinji's been in a really foul mood ever since it happened. I've had to keep a close eye on him in practice to keep him in line so I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, Shinji does have a nasty temper alright."

"I'm just worried that he'll do something to her for revenge." The archery club captain started eating her food.

"I really don't think you have to worry," Shirou assured her. "He would avoid someone who rejected him."

Mitsuzuri swallowed. "Yeah, but, there's no way he can avoid her if she comes to where he is."

"Huh?"

"I don't know what's going on, but Tohsaka's been coming to watch at the dojo a lot lately. Then again, you probably don't know since you quit the club."

Shirou grew thoughtful and then began to eat. "Yeah, probably."

"Oh, before I forget," Mitsuzuri said. "Have you seen a tall, really athletic redhead around school?"

"Uh, no," Shirou answered. "Pretty sure I'd remember someone like that."

"Huh," Mitsuzuri said.

"Wait, why are you asking me?"

"I thought she might've been new and you would've helped her with something. If she was I was going to see if she'd be interested in stopping by the dojo. I swear I saw her hanging around there this morning."

"Sorry, I haven't seen anyone like that."

* * *

As school ended, Shirou made his way to the archery dojo, hoping to catch sight of Shinji or the mystery redhead that Mitsuzuri was asking after. His conversation with the archery club captain kept spinning around in his head. Rin Tohsaka shooting Shinji down. A mystery girl hanging around the dojo. A bruise on Sakura's hand.

"When Shinji gets mad, he doesn't know when to stop," he said to himself.

"Hey! You there!" someone shouted. There was a WHOOSH as a pole vaulter's pole swung through the air and barely missed him, marking a crescent shape on the ground near him.

Shirou took two rapid steps back and turned to see three girls standing there. One with orange hair, one with silver, and one with dark hair and dark skin. The third girl was holding the pole vaulter's pole in a stance, her legs spread to distribute her weight more evenly on the ground.

"Shinji Matou," the dark haired girl continued. "I hate to break it to you, but Rin Tohsaka isn't going to show up! No matter how long you wait!" She spun the pole around in a complex series of movements and held it before herself, ready for another strike. The movements were more for show than for actual function, like a hero in an action film getting taught how to swordfight. The scene usually followed by the instructor contemptuously slapping the weapon out of their hand.

Confusion, rather than contempt, came to Shirou though. The girl thought he was… Shinji?

"Maki, this guy doesn't match the description Mitsuzuri gave us," the silver haired girl commented, her tone cool and level. "He doesn't have seaweed hair either."

"The way I see it he just wet down his naturally curly hair to straighten it! And a face this stupid looking can only belong to Shinji Matou!"

"You got it all wrong. I'm not Shinji, okay?" Shirou said.

"See what I mean? That's what the bad guys always say," Maki replied.

"Wait a second," the silver haired girl countered and approached Shirou. "I'm sorry, but would you mind showing your student ID to us?"

"Sure, here," Shirou said and pulled out his ID. The girl calmly took it and presented it to the girl called Maki. She promptly dropped the pole she was carrying and a look utter mortification came across her face.

"Like he said," the other girl added. "We've got the wrong guy cornered."

Maki spun around and her body started shaking in sheer reaction to the situation. "Emiya? _That_ Emiya? The guy that fixes all our gear whenever he has a moment to spare? _That one?!_ The one they call the homurahara brownie?"

"You know, I've never heard that nickname," Shirou commented casually. "But I do know the president of the track club."

"AH!" Maki exclaimed and threw herself to the ground in a bow. "I'm sorry!"

"We're all sorry," the third girl said. "It seemed like you were looking for someone, so we just assumed you were Matou."

"It's okay," Shirou reassured. "What was that you said about Tohsaka not coming here? Did something happen to her?"

"She stayed home, and said she wasn't coming in today."

"Yeah," Maki agreed. "Tohsaka's sick, dude. She said she's got a cold so she's gonna hang out in bed today. Can you believe a model student like her is capable of catching a common cold?"

Maki let out a UWAGH sound as the silver haired girl sat down on her prone form.

"We're very sorry, Emiya. Especially for our exotic beast here. But you shouldn't be here either. Weren't you told that students with no club meetings were to go straight home?"

"No, I wasn't. Why?"

The silver haired girl's eyes widened behind her glasses. "So you don't know? There was a terrible murder at an intersection very near our school. Of a family of four, the only survivor was a little kid. The parents and older daughter were stabbed to death. The killer is still at large and everybody's freaking out about how it seems like a random killing.

"In New City they have those gas leaks. Over here we've got grisly murder. With all that happening, it's no wonder they're sending students home early."

Shirou and the girls parted ways and he made his way toward a bus station, stopping briefly near the scene of the crime just to see, before boarding a bus that would take him into the city.

He spent the bus ride lost in his thoughts, remembering the day he was adopted by Kiritsugu. The straightforward but kindly manner he had asked Shirou's thoughts on his adoption or being sent to an orphanage, and his confession about his status as a mage.

Shirou spent the time he had before he had to go to work wandering the city, reliving the significant moments of his life. This wasn't an infrequent occurrence. Shirou's life had been much more dramatic than most his age. It wasn't all that surprising, given the number of bodies he'd seen in the accident ten years ago, and the fact that his adopted father was a mage.

The most bizarre thing about his evening was on his commute home. As he was walking toward the bus stop after his shift at Copenhagen, some instinct suddenly told him that he was being watched.

He glanced up to see a figure in a long, red jacket standing on the roof of one of the buildings and looking, he was certain, straight at him. His eyes were much better than most his age. It looked like Rin Tohsaka.

He closed his eyes and shook his head before looking again, only she wasn't there anymore.

* * *

He came home to a quiet house. Fuji-nee was in the dining room watching the tv and eating some crackers. The kitchen was dark and quiet, like the rest of the house.

"Hey, where's Sakura?"

"She was feeling kinda tired and needed to go home early tonight," Fujimura answered.

"Why'd you let her go home by herself? It's too dangerous. You were the one who warned us both that it wasn't safe to go out alone right now. Don't you remember?" Shirou turned off the television as he spoke.

"Don't worry. I sent one of my guys with her, so she'll be fine." Which probably meant either someone she knew from kendo, who could handle an average thug, or one of her _grandfather's_ employees.

Her grandfather, the landlord, ran his real estate business like a yakuza boss. Of course, that might have had something to do with the fact that he _was_ a yakuza boss. If that was the kind of guy who had gone with Sakura, she was actually reasonably safe. But that wasn't the point.

"You know you should've been the one to go. You're our teacher after all."

"Huh? If I did that I wouldn't get to eat dinner until way after 10 o'clock. Anyway, don't blame me. It's your own fault for coming home so late because of work. My stomach always waits patiently for you on work days."

"It does huh? You do know that you have the option of eating dinner at your own house, don't you?"

"But I told you Shirou this is my own house," Fuji-nee said, seeming confused.

Shirou smiled and let it go. Sakura was reasonably safe and he'd made his point about as firmly as he was going to be able to. Then he noticed several rolls of what looked like posters.

"What's this?" he asked, picking one up and unrolling it.

"Oh, they gave it to me. But I don't need it, so you gave keep it if you want."

Shirou rerolled the poster and said, "Nah that's okay. I don't want it either!" and then he swung the poster at her like a sword.

Fuji-nee dodged effortlessly with a smile, grabbed another rolled poster and smacked it into the top of head in a perfect kendo move. There was a heavy sound of impact and Shirou saw stars.

"Ha ha! You're sadly mistaken if you think you can hit me, Mr. Novice." Taiga taunted. "If you don't like it, I suggest you take time to practice more."

"No," he growled. "I don't think that was your advantage. What is that poster made of?"

"Oh," Taiga said with false confusion. "It's a special one they gave me. It's made of sheet metal."

"Sheet metal?!" he demanded. "Who makes a poster out of sheet metal? And who uses it as a weapon on someone?" The top of his head throbbed where Fuji-nee had struck him. She hadn't exactly pulled the hit either, only adding to the pain.

"Oh, we can talk about that later," Taiga said. "But more importantly, Shirou, I'm really, really hungry! I've been waiting like a good girl so hurry up and make dinner already!"

"Yeah, yeah," he answered and got up to nurse his head and make the meal.

 **Author's note: Shortest chapter aside from the prologue, but there really isn't much to cover on day two. Again, I decided to skip past the reflections on Shirou past. It's possible that I'll go and revisit that decision, but I'm fairly certain most of you know the particulars of those moments. They're really only ever referenced a couple of times anyway.**

 **So, day three is about to arrive. The excitement is almost here. The war can finally begin in earnest, on Sunday.**

 **Oh, and if anyone has a good book quote or popular saying that might be a good preface to a chapter, feel free to leave it in the reviews. Those have been one of the harder things to do for this story, funnily enough.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts.**

 **P.S. Have you spotted the third Servant yet?**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 _Do you have any idea who you're talking to right now?_ \- Weiss Schnee, RWBY

Sakura had something important to tell him as they were leaving for their commute to school.

"Shirou, sorry, but after tonight I might not be able to help out with dinner for a while. I hope you don't mind."

"Sure, don't worry about it," he said. "Besides," he added, "it's the weekend. You should be hanging out with your friends."

Sakura looked shocked. "What?" she asked and vigorously shook her head. "No, it's not like that. It's a personal thing I have to take care of, but I'll still be going to all the club practices. So, if anything comes up don't hesitate to come to the dojo and I'll see what I can do!" Sakura had gotten closer and closer to Shirou as she spoke and her cheeks grew reder as the proximity between them decreased. "I mean it. It's like I'm goofing off just because it's the weekend!"

Shirou was put off-guard by Sakura's insistent declaration. A second later Sakura seemed to realize this and she backed off, her cheeks flushed further with embarrassment.

"I mean…" she said. "I just… I'd appreciate it if you didn't get the wrong idea about this."

"I understand," Shirou said, kindly. "If something comes up, I'll come to the dojo."

"Good, that would be great, Shirou. Thank you." Sakura smiled, then gasped in alarm. "Oh, your hand, look!"

Shirou checked his left hand and noticed a faded mark, almost like a bruise. "Where'd this come from?" he asked. "I must've hurt myself when I was tinkering with my old junk." He dismissed the oddity. "It doesn't hurt, so I'm sure it'll fade soon. My hand's fine. Nothing to worry about," he reassured Sakura.

"Okay," Sakura said dubiously. "If you say so then I won't worry."

Shirou glanced away from Sakura and caught sight of a figure lurking in the shadows outside of his property. The figure was tall and athletic, and he thought he saw long, bright red hair. The figure shifted as it noticed him watching and darted out of sight.

"Hey!" Shirou called out. "Is someone there?" He rushed through the archway in the wall that surrounded his property and glanced in the direction the figure had darted. He didn't see anyone.

"Shirou?" Sakura asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he answered quickly. "I just thought I saw someone. We should get going so we're not late."

He kept an eye out for the mystery red-head on his way to school, but couldn't see anyone that matched the form he had noticed outside of his house.

As soon as he stepped onto the school grounds, however, something felt… wrong. He couldn't place what it was, but something in the air seemed different. Charged.

"Maybe I'm just tired," he said to himself, but not really buying it. "Yeah."

* * *

He spent his free time at and after school fixing the remaining heaters and other damaged equipment around the campus.

As the sun was setting, Issei confirmed that the recovery project had been completed.

"Thanks to you, Emiya, it looks like we'll have all the equipment fixed before tests begin. I really have to thank you again."

"No problem," Shirou said. "See you later." Then they separated.

As he went down the stairs toward the ground floor of the school, he heard the sound of girls laughing. Girls, and a boy. He turned and saw Shinji Matou flanked by a pair of brunette students. They all noticed each other at the same time and silence fell in around them.

"Shinji," Shirou said. His voice was dull, removed of any normal emotions. The memory of Sakura's hand flashed through his mind, unbidden and irresistible.

"So, still at school I see, Emiya," Matou said, his own voice full of the same confidence it always was. Shirou came to a decision.

"I need to talk to you right now. It'll just take a minute."

"A minute?" Shinji asked, his tone dismissive. "That's too bad. As you can plainly see I'm pretty busy. Whatever your little problem is, it's going to have to wait. Isn't that right, ladies?" Then he and his entourage walked by him.

 _To Hell with waiting,_ Shirou thought.

"Hang on," he said. "This is about the bruise on Sakura's hand."

"What?" Shinji asked, his voice unchanged. "Did something happen to Sakura?"

"Don't dodge the question," Shirou said. "Did you do anything to her?"

"Why are you asking me? Like I know anything about her."

"Even though she's your sister?" Shirou asked. His tone implied that his question could very easily have been attached to his previous one. Shinji must've noticed because his face twisted in anger.

"Now listen to me, Emiya. You're starting to get on my nerves. Why do you care about someone else's sister? Why don't you mind your own business and keep your nose out of it." Shinji approached Shirou as he spoke and the girls backed away from the confrontation.

"You sure you didn't do anything to her?" Shirou asked. He felt a breeze against the back of his neck, but he ignored it.

"No, I didn't. Wait a minute. Is Sakura going around saying I beat her or something?"

"No," Shirou answered, but they both knew the truth. Sakura _wouldn't_ say anything about her brother hurting her, even if it was true.

Shirou had had to confront Shinji once before about injuries on Sakura. Shinji himself had admitted it when he'd been confronted, claiming that he'd 'just felt like it,' and Shirou had given him a taste of his own medicine. Whatever friendship they'd had had become strained from that point on.

"There you go then," Shinji said, as if that was everything. "You know, Emiya, it's really not nice to make reckless accusations."

They stared at each other, neither side blinking. "I suppose so," Shirou said. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Hmph. If you feel bad then why don't you do me a favor? See the dojo's kinda a mess right now and could use some serious attention. Since you've got all this free time maybe you could clean up? What do you say?" He asked that last question with a sneer, as if daring Shirou to say no.

"Didn't Miss Fujimura specifically ask you to do that though?" one of the girls asked.

"Don't you think you should do it? She's gonna get mad," the other girl pointed out.

"It'll be fine," Shinji replied. "Besides, if I started cleaning now the shop would be closed by the time I finished."

Both girls glanced at each other, clearly torn between the outing they had planned and the responsibility that Shinji had been given by a teacher.

Shinji walked away, calling back, "I know I can count on you, Emiya."

"Hey! Wait for us!" one of the girls said and followed him.

"I'm sorry you have to do all of this," the other girl told Shirou, before bowing and following her friend and Shinji.

Shirou sighed and went down the stairs to go and clean the dojo. As he left the main building, a voice came to him. Strong, clear, and feminine.

" _You should trust your instincts about those around you,_ " it said. " _They're right more often than they're wrong._ "

Shirou spun around, but didn't see anyone there. "Who's there?" he demanded. There was no reply. Shirou continued toward the dojo, his senses on alert for anyone nearby.

* * *

As the other students left their various club activities, Shirou cleaned every inch of the archery dojo and its equipment by himself. Some small part of himself figured that Sakura, Mitsuzuri, or maybe even Fuji-nee would notice his touch on the place.

The sun was well and truly set by the time he was completely finished. He set the bucket full of water down and looked out over his work with pride.

"Done," he declared.

There was a ringing clash of metal against metal outside. Confused, Shirou moved to the entrance of the dojo. What on Earth was going on outside?

The track was the epicenter of some sort of dust cloud. Flashes of red and silver streaked through the cloud, striking and repelling each other.

Shirou's better than normal vision spotted a pair of figures clashing with each other in the cloud.

"What the hell?" he asked, his eyes wide with fear and amazement. "Who are they?" The forms looked to be a pair of men running and fighting at incredible speed. One was in black and red; holding a black and white pair of swords; and the other in blue; wielding a red spear.

The battle continued and Shirou, for once in his life, stood there without any idea of what to do. His breathing grew ragged and he unconsciously took a step away from the conflict. There was an electricity in the air. Something that made the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

"Who's there?!" one of the figures, the blue one, shouted, spinning to face toward Shirou.

Raw terror flooded through Shirou and he turned and ran. Adrenaline coursed through his system, giving his body even greater speed. He had to get away.

He ran into the school's main building, hoping that his intimate knowledge of its layout would allow him to evade any pursuit.

His shoes squeaked against the clean floor as he turned from the entrance lockers to get further into the building. He heard something like a rush of air from behind himself and he put every bit of speed he had into his flight.

Shirou ran up a flight of stairs and barreled down a hallway of classrooms. He heard the rush of air behind him again and with a yell of terror, Shirou turned, raising an arm in instinctive defense. His sudden turn made his footing slip and he toppled to the floor. He shot into an upright position, convinced that he was about to die.

The hallway was empty. For the third time that day, there wasn't a figure standing where he expected one to be. His instinct to flee was still surging through his body and he slid backward slightly. Then he glanced around, confirming that no one was present.

Shirou stood up, panting from the exertion. He wasn't out of shape by any stretch of the imagination, far from it, but the fear and adrenaline had pushed him more than he was used to.

"Yo," a voice said, casual and masculine in tone. Shirou gasped and spun around just as something cold and metallic stabbed into him.

A red spear materialized into the air, held by the now materializing blue armored figure he had seen just a moment ago. The figure's face was an expressionless mask as he pulled the spear out of Shirou's body.

Shirou collapsed like a puppet cut from its strings, and blood began to rapidly pool out of him, his stabbed heart still trying to fulfill its purpose and pump blood through his body.

"It just wasn't your lucky day, kid," the figure said. "Now that you've seen me, you have to die. You understand? Dead men tell no tales, ya know? Blame your own pathetic life that you were born without luck or power."

"Try me!" another voice thundered. " **Ventas Servitas!** " An arctic gale blasted through the hall, knocking the spearman clean off of his feet.

There was the sound of shattering glass and the barest sound of a muttered curse from the spearman. Then there was another curse and footsteps approached.

Shirou began to fade away. His vision growing dark, returning, and growing dark again. His awareness of his surroundings became equally interrupted. He could tell something was happening, but not what.

"If his heart is hit, there's no way to save him. None that I know of, at any rate," the male voice said.

He was flipped over by someone he couldn't see. "Oh, no," a girl said. "Why are you here? Why did you have to pick on this day to be _here_?"

Shirou heard the distress in the girl's voice, and his old instinct to help forced his mind to clear for a final moment. He had to help her, comfort her somehow.

"Yes," she said. "There's still a way."

"How?" the male voice asked.

"We're going to reconstruct his heart."

"You can do that?"

"Yes. Stand watch."

"Fuck that. I'm helping."

"How?"

"You just get started. When it's time, I'll show you the gift an Archangel gave me."

The last thing Shirou saw before he faded away for good, was a red, heart-shaped, pendant, silver light glittering from it like starlight, and he swore he heard the clear, resonant tone of a bell chiming.

The first thing Shirou felt when he woke up was pain, though not as much as he would've expected. He felt more… alive then he had before. That didn't stop the pain from being there, and being agonizing, but it made the pain feel more honest.

Shirou rolled over and got to his knees.

"What happened to me?" he thought aloud. He tried to stand, but despite the spirit of rejuvenation coursing through him, his body was still weak and he fell to his hands and knees again.

He caught a glimmer from the corner of his eye and found the pendant he'd seen laying discarded on the ground within his reach. There was no sign of what had made the silver light, but the word _archangel_ was bouncing around his mind.

He grabbed the pendant and made his faltering way home.

He didn't collapse until he'd reached his living room, safe within the boundaries of his property. Only then did he even dare think about what had just happened.

"That man in blue, and the one in red," he said to himself, fear making his voice quiver. "What the hell were they? They weren't ordinary humans. I was nearly killed by one of them. No, I wasn't nearly killed. I was really killed." He sat up. "But I'm here, and I'm still alive. I was saved by someone after I was dead. Someone tried to intervene but was too late. But who was it? I wish I could at least say thank you to them."

A pulse of power coursed through Shirou, a mystic alarm. Something had set off the bounded field around his home. Something was coming to kill him.

 **Author's note: This is the day that never ends. It just goes on and on my friends! Welcome to day 3 of the fifth Holy Grail war, the current record holder for greatest number of chapters to complete. This single day is going to take a while to go through, but that isn't a bad thing. Those of you who might have been quietly placing bets on who the new characters are are going to get a couple of definitive answers very soon.**

 **And now to answer some questions from the reviews.**

 **Guest (I'm sorry that I can't address you more accurately, but you know who you are): That's actually a really interesting question. To answer it in a single word: yes. More generally: I plan on indulging in all three timelines, though some might get less attention than others (** _ **cough**_ **Heaven's Feel** _ **cough**_ **). I do have a specific end and pairing in mind, but it won't necessarily be straightforward. I hope that keeps you interested and excited for what will follow.**

 **Demonic hellfire: I'm not going to confirm or deny the existence or non-existence of any secondary Servant, though I am** _ **ecstatic**_ **to see you guessing. I hope you like who I've chosen. Your guesses, however, have touched on two of the entertainment** _ **mediums**_ **I've pulled from. I realize that doesn't give you much to work with, but your mind is looking in the right direction. As a note: I also find it hysterical that your screen name is demonic hellfire, considering the fact that Harry Dresden is on the field.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 _The problem with troubleshooting, is that trouble shoots back._ \- Anonymous

The bounded field that Kiritsugu, Shirou's father, had created around his home was simple, but clever. The bounded field only did one thing, and only under a single circumstance. But the true ramifications of just how powerful the bounded field could be only became clear to Shirou in that instant.

The field allowed anyone to enter it, but it would send an alarm to the true owner of the home if anyone within or entering the field had truly malicious or lethal intent. Realistically speaking, the field wasn't overly helpful except to give the owner of the home a few seconds warning of danger.

Those few seconds of warning, however, stopped Shirou from dying a second time that night.

The warning came to him, along with it a rush of adrenaline. Bells that had been hidden within the roofing of the home chimed and Shirou had begun to move even before the blue armored spearman that had killed him earlier materialized at the ceiling and dropped, spear point first, into where Shirou had been a second earlier.

Shirou's dodge wasn't perfect, and he flipped over the low dining table and landed in a heap on the other side. He spotted one of the rolled posters that Taiga had left there and grabbed it before quickly rising and turning to face the intruder, holding the poster like a sword. He was disappointed to see that it wasn't the sheet metal one she'd whacked him with the night before.

The spearman rested his red weapon on his shoulder, a smirk across his face.

"Oh well," he said. "So much for trying to be considerate. It hurts more if you see it coming." Shirou steeled himself, refusing to bow to fear a second time. "I can't believe I've got to kill the same person twice in one day," the spearman added and swung his weapon into a ready position. "I guess the human world is a bloody place whatever the era."

This was a dire situation, and Shirou couldn't afford to hold anything back. "Trace on," he said. Mana flowed from his body and into the poster in his hands, reinforcing its physical structure to be able to withstand heavy strikes.

Even Shirou understood that he was worse than an amatuer with magecraft. Actual mages could do all sorts of impressive feats and affect all sorts of forces around them. Shirou had started his magical training with one useless skill and had swapped it, at Kiritsugu's suggestion, for another skill that was only nominally more useful.

Reinforcement, also known as strengthening magic, what Shirou had spent years working on, was all about making objects and materials better, stronger, and more efficient at their tasks. This is what he started to do to the poster.

The spearman looked curious for a second, surprised by the light running through the poster. Then he smiled. "This time, kid, you're going straight to the afterlife."

"Component materials, strengthening," Shirou said and the light grew more intense as the power fulfilled his command. The spearman lunged forward and Shirou intercepted the strike with his poster, though imperfectly. The majority of the blow was knocked aside, but the spearhead still cut his arm.

The spearman lowered his weapon for a moment, looking surprised. "Wow, now that's a rather odd trick," he observed. Shirou didn't answer, taking a step back to try and fix his stance. "It's faint, but I sense mana in you," the spearman said. "So that's why you're still alive after having your heart skewered." Shirou took another step back, trying to buy some distance. "This is gonna be a fun fight after all."

He surged forward into a series of rapid strikes that Shirou only barely managed to block. The man's final strike caught Shirou by surprise and shoved him down the hall. Shirou hit the corner and then ran down the intersection. Then he leapt out of the window into the yard near his shed, trying to gain some space for better movement.

He landed on his hands and knees, his body screaming at him in pain. Then the spearman kicked him in the ribs and sent Shirou flying through the air by his shed. That strike confirmed Shirou's suspicions that the spearman wasn't human. No human being possessed that kind of strength.

"Huh, I was kind enough to give you a chance kid, but you blew it," he said as Shirou struggled to his feet. Shirou ran into the shed, at a loss for what else he could do. As he made his way inside he heard that same rush of air from before.

Shirou acted out of instinct, turning and unrolling the poster to act as a shield. He had strengthened the basic structure of the poster, true, but the poster was still paper, and could manipulated in the same way that paper could.

The poster absorbed the impact of the spear thrust and shattered into tiny scraps, the defense unable to handle the full power of the spearman's strike. Shirou was knocked to the ground.

"Checkmate," the spearman declared. "That last move was pretty surprising, kid." He actually did sound slightly impressed. "But I really don't get it, though. You're fast on your feet but you're hopeless at magecraft. You do have a knack for it. It could be that you were meant to be the seventh Master. Well, even if you were, this is the end for you."

"Screw all this," Shirou said, rising up and locking his gaze on the spearman. "My life was spared and so I'm not going to let myself be killed that easily. I have to live and fulfill all my obligations. And I can't do that if I'm dead." Shirou's left hand began to burn, but he barely noticed. "I'm not going to be killed here for no reason, not by a bastard like you," The spearman thrust his weapon forward. "No matter what it costs me!"

There was a flash of blue light from the other side of the shed. The spearman turned his head and held his strike. "The seventh Servant is here?!" he asked and then was knocked out of the shed by a powerful blow.

Someone else was in the shed now. A figure with blonde hair in an ornate bun and wearing armor over a blue gown. The figure held something in their hands, a weapon hidden in a sheath of air.

"I ask you," the figure asked, her voice regal and commanding. "Are you worthy to be my Master?" she turned, and Shirou saw her jade green eyes, her face framed by her blonde hair, her expression serious. She couldn't have been much older than himself, but her bearing, her sheer _presence_ was of someone far older and far more powerful.

Shirou sat there, awestruck by the woman's form, the moonlight behind her reflecting off of the armor. "Your… Master?" he asked.

"I'm your Servant, Saber. I have come in response to your summons. Your order, Master?" Shirou grabbed his left wrist as pain flashed over the back of his hand. The woman, Saber, turned toward the exit to the shed. "My sword will henceforth be at your side. Your fate is now my fate. Our pact is now sealed."

Then she launched herself out of the shed.

"Wait!" Shirou called out. "What do you mean by our pact!?"

Saber had engaged with the spearman and Shirou watched helplessly from the sidelines. Then his other hand began to burn and he dropped to his knees again.

"What now?" he hissed in pain. Blue-white light began to flow over the back of his right hand, burning as three triangles formed there, in the shape of a pyramid. As the symbol completed, it shone with blue-white light and another figure appeared next to Shirou.

He recognized this new figure. It was the man from his dream. A man clad in a chainmail shirt under a green tunic and tan pants, his blond hair in waves and his ears coming to points.

"Your will creates my body," this new man said. "And my sword creates your destiny." Then he blinked his blue eyes and glanced around. "Where am I?"

"You!" Shirou shouted and rose to his feet. "You're the one from my dream! What the hell is going on?"

The green-clad man grimaced. "Apparently some sort of war. You are my Master and I am supposed to assist you in gaining the Holy Grail, whatever that it." His eyes moved to the fight happening in the yard. "The woman is my partner for this fight." His eyes moved to the spearman. "And he's my enemy."

Shirou turned to watch the battle unfold, still completely confused.

Saber and the spearman exchanged a blurring series of blows and their conflict was tearing up the yard. The spearman seemed to be frustrated and kept getting forced into the defensive.

After another exchange, they locked weapons for a moment and then the spearman leapt back, gaining some distance.

"Who do you think you are? Concealing your weapon like some sort of coward?!"

Saber lunged forward and swung in reply and the spearman leapt over her to avoid the strike before falling back again to regain the same ground he'd lost.

"Ah," the green clad man said. "I see what he's doing."

"What?" Shirou asked.

"He must be Lancer," the man said. "He can't tell how long her weapon is so it's impeding his ability to fight back. He keeps falling back to a safe distance so that she has to move in order to strike him, giving him that precious second he needs to dodge. Once he figures out how long her weapon is, he'll be able to use that distance to employ his spear's greater reach. Clever tactic, if you're fighting one-on-one."

"What is wrong, Lancer?" Saber asked. "Simply standing there will give spearmen a bad name. If you will not come to me, then I will come to you."

"Before you do, let me ask you this," Lancer said. "Is a sword your Noble Phantasm?"

"Perhaps," Saber answered. "Perhaps not. It may be a battle axe, or a polearm, or it might even be a bow, or a weapon like yours, Lancer."

"Hmp. Very funny, swordsman," Lancer replied, spinning his spear into a new stance.

"What is that stance?" Shirou asked. The green clad man grimaced and held out his right hand, as if to grasp something.

"You'll want to step back, Master," he said. "There's going to be debris."

"I have one more question for you," Lancer said. "since this is our first meeting. Would you like to just call it a draw?"

"I think not," Saber answered. "You will fall here, Lancer, and you know it."

"Is that so? Damn, my objective was simply to observe." Crismon light shone from Lancer's spear and Saber readied herself for a strike. "Ready or not, I shall come to take your life!" He surged forward and shouted as he moved to thrust his spear, " _ **Gae Bolg!**_ "

As Lancer started to speak, a bow materialized in the green-clad man's hand. He drew the string back and an arrow appeared, ready to be fired. As soon as the spear was thrust, the man released the shaft.

Shirou suddenly noticed that the arrow wasn't a normal one. The head of the arrow wasn't just a blade of metal or wood. There was something else attached to it, something small with a burning wick.

Shirou's eyes grew wide and moved back into the shed in a hurry.

Saber suddenly shifted her position as a twisting beam of red light shot from the spear and penetrated her side. Lancer adjusted his stance, likely to capitalize on Saber's vulnerable position, when he caught sight of the arrow flying straight toward him.

Lancer raised his arm in an instinctive, defensive gesture. The arrow struck and there was a BOOM as the explosive connected to the shaft detonated.

Lancer was sent sprawling across the ground and the green-clad man's bow vanished, to be replaced with a long sword with an elegant purple crossguard and hilt. His right hand gained a metal kite shield with a crest Shirou didn't recognize emblazoned upon it.

The man moved forward, shield and sword at the ready. "Impressive reflexes, Lancer. But don't think you'll avoid my next strike."

Lancer leapt to his feet, spinning his spear into a ready stance. "You're very perceptive, new guy. Holding back your attack until I was halfway through my own and couldn't stop. I guess divine protection can only go so far. And you, Saber, you're very lucky to have dodged my ultimate blow."

Saber held her hand to her shoulder, red light crackling around the wound she'd received.

"A curse?" she asked. "No, wait. The blow reverses cause and effect? That was Gae Bolg. You must be Ireland's Child of Light." Her gaze turned to the man in green. "And who are you to interfere with our duel, stranger?"

"Get over yourself, Saber," the man replied. "You know as well as I do that _partners_ are allowed to help each other in a scrape. That's the point of having backup."

"Damn," Lancer said. "I really messed up. If I use that move it has to be fatal or I'm in big trouble. And I should've remembered that you would've had backup from another Servant." Lancer started walking away toward the edge of the property. "My Master is somewhat of a coward you see. You dodged my spear and brought a friend so he's ordering me to retreat."

"You're running away? Saber and the green clad man asked in unison.

"You're both more than welcome to follow," Lancer answered. Then he turned his head and added, "But if you do you'd better prepare yourself to die." He leapt onto the roof and then proceeded to leap away.

"Wait! Come back!" Saber shouted and rose to her feet.

"Is she some kind of idiot?" Shirou asked himself and ran out of the shed. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked. As he spoke, the damaged portion of Saber's armor restored itself, though the wound remained. "My god, what are you?" Shirou asked in amazement.

"As you can see, I am your Saber class Servant," she said with a smile. "As such, could you please call me Saber?"

Shirou blushed and then replied, "My name is Shirou. Shirou Emiya."

"Emiya?" Saber asked, clearly surprised.

"I live here," Shirou said and then blushed and rubbed his neck. "No, wait, that's not really what I want to say."

"I am called Link," the man in green said, coming to join them. "And as odd as this sounds, I too am a… Saber class Servant."

"But how can that be?" Saber asked. "There are only seven Servants summoned for the war."

"Don't look at me," Link answered. "I just got here. There I was, enjoying blissful eternity, waiting for the next cycle to begin and then I was suddenly standing in the shed next to our Master and I knew that you were my partner and that Lancer was the enemy. I've got all of this new information in my head and I'm still trying to sort it all out."

"But that would mean," Saber said thoughtfully and then she examined Shirou. Her eyes fell to his hands and her eyes went wide. "Our Master bears two sets of stigmatus, not just one. So that means…"

"That we are, in fact, both of his Servants," Link finished. "He bears the symbol of the Triforce, which is significant to my life." They both looked at him.

"Wouldn't you agree, Master?" Saber asked.

"Wait, isn't it weird to start calling me Master like that all of a sudden?" Shirou asked.

"Then I shall call you... Shirou," Saber replied. "Yes, the sound of that is quite pleasing to my ears," she continued and moved to examine the house.

"I like it too," Link added as he examined the partially destroyed yard. "It's sounds more normal."

Shirou looked at his hands, still utterly confused. "What are these?"

"Those are what are known as Command Seals," Saber explained. "Try to avoid using them carelessly." She and Link both turned to look in the same direction simultaneously. "Shirou, please heal me," Saber requested.

"You're asking me to do that?" Shirou asked. "Sorry, but magic like that is way beyond me."

"I shall face them in my current condition, then," Saber said and leapt to the roof of the house. "There are three enemies outside. One more battle should not pose a problem for me. Link?"

"I'll see if I can flank them," he said and his boots shimmered for a moment, each gaining a pair of wings. "I'll race you." Then he shot off at high speed toward the the front of the house.

"What do you mean: enemies outside?" Shirou asked before taking off after them, albeit at a slower pace.

Shirou left the boundary of his property to see Link standing there, ready to move in when there was an opening in the melee already underway between Saber and a man wearing black and red and wielding two small, slightly curved swords.

"What the hell?" he asked as Saber moved past her enemy's guard and scored a serious blow against him. The man let out a grunt of pain and started to disappear. Saber slashed again, but a tall man wearing a long, black leather duster and a dark leather hat suddenly surged forward and lifted his left hand. Shirou caught sight of a bracelet hung with several medieval style shields on the man's wrist.

"Archer, go! I've got this!" the man shouted. The man in red completely vanished as Saber's sword struck an invisible barrier. Blue light blossomed from where the weapon struck revealing a dome-like shape of energy.

"Caster," Saber said. "You should know that your spells are useless against me." She struck again and the barrier appeared once again, this time with silver light blossoming and releasing a mellow chime with the impact. Saber's attack had gotten much closer, though.

"Yeah," the man, now called Caster, growled. "That's why I brought this." Then he drew an absolutely huge revolver from his duster's pocket with his right hand and pulled the trigger. There was a CRACK as the revolver went off and Saber was forced to step back from the sudden impact. Her armor was scored slightly from the shot.

Before she could move to strike again, Caster cocked the gun and fired a second time. Saber sidestepped the attack. Link moved in front of Shirou, lifting his shield in front of them.

"Stay behind me, Shirou," he ordered. "You don't want to get shot."

Caster was lining up another shot and Saber was preparing to move when a voice spoke.

"That's enough, Caster. Stand down." The man immediately lowered his weapon, but lifted his left hand, fingers in a mystic gesture, ready for Saber.

"What the hell is going on!?" Shirou demanded.

"So this is how it's to be, my good novice Master," the voice replied. A figure stepped out from behind Caster, a girl glaringly familiar to Shirou. "For starters, good evening, Shirou Emiya," Rin Tohsaka said.

 **Author's note: Well, I was going to make a first blood joke, but since Shirou's already died once, I guess that's pretty stupid.**

 **So now it's official. Shirou's secondary Servant is Link of Hyrule (Sorry, demonic hellfire. I can only see Cloud as a Saber, and Link already had that slot filled). So yeah, Shirou has both Sabers.**

 **When I set out to assign the Servants to their Masters, I didn't want to double up with them unless I really had to. Shirou is one of those cases. Realistically speaking, Shirou could only ever summon another Saber.**

 **I think that covers everything for this chapter. Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 _Jasnah had once defined a fool as a person who ignored information because it disagreed with results._ \- Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance

Once the excitement died down, they elected to go indoors. Rin promised that they would remain civil and not engage in any hostile actions until the situation was fully resolved. Her Caster made the same promise and they proceeded indoors.

"I'm sorry about pulling a gun in your neighborhood," Caster said to Shirou. "I hope the cops won't be a problem."

"I'm sure the landlord will know how to deal with them," Shirou reassured the Servant.

Once they got inside Rin immediately complained about the temperature. "Geez, it's freezing in here. What happened? This window is completely smashed in."

"It's not my fault. I was defending myself against that Lancer guy," Shirou answered.

"Wait, you fought him all on your own until you were able to summon Saber?"

"Hardly," Shirou admitted. "I couldn't even fight back."

Rin tilted her head. "Huh, you're not even trying to brag about it. I see. You are exactly how you look."

"And how do I look?" Shirou asked.

"Like an honest dork who doesn't know any better about getting involved in dangerous crap," Caster said, walking by the pair. "I'll be outside keeping watch," he told Rin.

"Fine," she said and he vanished. Then she held her hand over the shattered glass and spoke briefly. There was a flash of blue light and the shattered glass lifted from the ground and refit itself to the window it came from. Then it solidified back into a solid pane.

"Woah, Tohsaka," Shirou said, his voice breathy with amazement. "You really are a mage, aren't you?"

"Yes," she answered. "And you too, I see."

"Not me. I can't do something big like this."

"What do you mean you can't? You're messing with me now, aren't you? Treating glass is about as basic as you can get."

"Yeah, well I don't know anything about basics or fundamentals."

"Ugh, how was it a guy like this was able to summon both Sabers? Seriously?" After a moment she added: "Well, that's fine. However it happened, we need to rebalance the scales."

Then she and Shirou went into the dining room to talk.

They settled down at opposite sides of the table, Rin on one side, drinking a cup of tea, Shirou on the other, with Saber and Link flanking him. Saber's weapon and armor had dispersed once they had agreed to stop fighting for the moment, leaving her only in her modest blue gown. Link's weapons had vanished, though he kept the chain shirt under his tunic.

"Now then, let's get started," Rin said. "You have absolutely no idea what you're caught up in, do you?"

Shirou nodded in affirmation.

"To be totally blunt: You've been chosen by the Grail to be a Master. Have you noticed a stigmatus somewhere on your body?"

"Stigmata?" Shirou asked.

"She means Command Seals, Shirou," Saber provided.

"Oh, these?" he asked and lifted both of his hands.

"Yes," Rin answered. "Those are proof that you are a Master. They are also spells that let you control your Servants, so as long as you have at least one of those you can keep your Servants under control. One set for each Servant."

"What do you mean, as long as I still have them?"

"Command Seals are unbreakable orders. Spells that can force Servants to obey, even if it means bending them to your will. However, you only get three Command Seals for each Servant for the whole war, so you should really try not to waste them. You'll probably be killed if you use them all too soon, so I suggest you be careful."

"Wait, I'll be killed?"

"That's right. The Holy Grail War is completely based around Masters defeating other Masters. The one that beats the other six wins the Holy Grail, which is an omnipotent, wish-granting cup."

"Hey, wait, hold on a second. Why're you telling me this?"

"Well, because you've gotten dragged into a certain ritual: It's the Holy Grail War. Fought by seven Masters. A battle to the death between mages."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Shirou demanded.

"Welcome to the real world, kid!" Caster called down from the roof. "It's a bigger and scarier place than you think!"

"Shut up, Caster!" Rin shouted at the ceiling. "We agreed I would do this!" She turned back to Shirou and continued. "I'm simply laying out the facts as they are. Besides, deep inside you already know all this, don't you? After all, you've already nearly been killed by a Servant not once, but twice. Convinced yet?

"I'm another mage chosen to be a Master. Think of your Servants as familiars granted to you by the Grail to help you survive the Holy Grail war."

Shirou glanced over at Saber, then at Link. "They sure don't look like familiars to me," Shirou responded.

"Well of course they don't. Servants are technically familiars, but they're really superhuman beings. Heroic Spirits from the past."

"A hero from the past?" Shirou asked. "Saber?" Then he glanced at Link and simply raised his eyebrows.

"That's right. Servants are Heroic Spirits from legend, from the past or present that are pulled into our time and given form and substance. At least the primary Servant is. These secondary Servants don't appear to be from our own time or world. Is that correct?"

Link nodded. "That is correct. This world is alien to me."

Rin nodded. "It's the Master's role to summon them, and, once materialized, the Grail helps them keep their physical forms. Servants are basically always with you in spirit form, and should the need arise, you can materialize them and make them fight on your behalf."

"So the guy in black can change between spirit and physical forms at will?" Shirou asked.

"That's Caster, he's keeping watch outside, as you know. Do you understand so far?"

"Yeah, I guess I do, sort of."

"For a more detailed explanation, you should talk to the man overseeing the Grail war. Now there's something important you should keep in mind. You have no choice but to fight once you've been chosen and the Servants are powerful familiars. So make sure you use yours well." Rin took a long drink from her tea and turned to look at Saber. "Now for you.

"From what I understand based on what Emiya has said I gather that you're in an incomplete state, Saber?" Rin tried to pour herself more tea, but the kettle before her was empty.

"You are?" Link asked, giving Saber a surprised look. "How can that be?"

"Yes, as you've accurately stated I am not at full fighting strength," Saber said as Rin rose to her feet. "The fact is that Shirou is not a trained Master. So even replenishing mana will be difficult."

Rin walked over to the portable heater and stove and picked up the kettle that was there. She turned her head and said, "That's pretty shocking."

Link opened his mouth, then closed it and looked at his left hand suspiciously.

"Hey," Shirou said as Rin picked up the kettle. "I'm confused, what're you talking about?"

"A Servant maintains its physical existence in this world by being supplied with mana by its Master. But she can't get an adequate supply of mana from you because you're a novice and you don't know how to focus. It'll be a problem before too long." Rin poured herself more tea. "Oh, would you like a cup of tea?"

"I'm good," Shirou said.

"I have to say, I didn't expect you to be so open with me about all this."

"There was no point in lying," Saber answered. "You'd already realized that something was indeed wrong. Therefore, I decided to let you know the truth about my condition, so that Shirou could get a clear view of his current circumstances."

"But why am I not affected?" Link asked. Rin and Saber both gave him a look. "I don't feel any different from normal," he said. He glanced at his left hand again. "Unless it's somehow compensating?" he asked, more to himself than to Rin or Saber. Then he shook his head. "I don't have any idea about this sort of thing. We can talk about this later. Saber's condition and Shirou's understanding should be our priority."

Rin slammed her hands, and cup, onto the table. "Damnit! What a stupid waste! If I was Saber's Master I'd win this war easily! Why'd did they _both_ have to go to a newbie like him?!" Rin had risen in frustration and thrown herself to the ground as she complained.

"Nice to be appreciated! Love you too, Rin!" Caster called from the roof.

"Shut up, Harry!" Rin shouted back.

"Oh, so you _do_ remember my name! I guess that means you do care!"

Rin flopped back onto the floor in aggravation.

"Hey," Shirou said. "Are you trying to say I'm not worthy of them?"

"Of course I am, you hack!" Rin declared. Then she rose to her feet. "Okay, come on. Shall we go?"

"What? Where are we going?"

"To see the man who knows everything there is to know about the Grail War. I mean, you do want to know the reason behind it, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course I do," Shirou answered and glanced at the clock. "But it's getting really late." Truth to tell, he was exhausted. Dying was apparently wearying, and there wasn't an exercise regime created that matched the exhaustion of actual combat.

"It's what? You won't go?" Rin asked. "Oh well, whatever. That's your call to make." She leaned over and asked, "What about you, Saber? Other Saber?"

"Hey!" Shirou exclaimed. "Leave them out of this! Don't try to strong-arm them."

"Ooh!" Rin exclaimed with false surprise, her hand to her mouth. "I guess you _do_ think like a Master." Then her expression and voice gained a near leer-like quality. "You don't want me talking to your Servants, do you?"

"I can still hear you!" Caster shouted. Irritation flashed across Rin's face and Shirou began to suspect that there was something wrong the girl in front of him.

"Anyway, Saber's supposed to be a hero from the past, right?" Shirou asked. "And Link's from another world? They're just going to be confused. They won't know how to make sense of the modern world."

Rin let out an exasperated sigh. "For future reference, Mr. Novice, don't go shouting out your Servants names. You'll reveal far too much."

Link let out a laugh. "I'd love to see you try and figure out anything about me based on my name," he said. "You won't have any clue of what I'm capable of. I guarantee it."

Rin's eyes narrowed at the challenge as Saber spoke up.

"Shirou," she said. "That is not true. Servants adapt to whatever time period they find themselves in. As such, I am quite familiar with this era. As is, I believe, Link."

"You're familiar with it? How can that be?"

"Of course, this is not the first time I have been summoned to this time in history," Saber said, more like an afterthought than something she wanted to admit.

"What?" Rin exclaimed. "No way, what are the odds of that?"

Saber rose to her feet. "So then, where is it we are going?"

"The church, in New City," Rin answered.

Rin's Caster materialized in the room with them at that moment. "The area's still clear," he reported to Rin. "No cops, either, which means Shirou was right about the landlord having plans in place." He glanced around at the other occupants. "You all might want to change into something a little more street worthy. Even at this time of night, there are always people around in a city this big. Blood stained clothes and suits of armor are bound to draw attention to us. You might've found our scuffle bracing, Saber, but I tend to try and avoid fights unless I can really help it. There are other Masters around and we don't know who or where they are yet."

"I'm good," Link said and disappeared. " _Unlike Saber, I can dematerialize when needed_." Rin's eyes narrowed in thought, but she kept them to herself.

* * *

Shirou left to go change out of his blood stained and torn school uniform and into jeans, a t-shirt, and jacket heavy enough for the cold. As he changed, he found the heart-shaped pendant he'd found when he'd awoken back in the school.

He held it up in the light for a moment and tried to see if there was any sign of the silver light he'd seen before as well. When no revelation hit him, he placed it into one of the drawers in his desk and finished changing.

As he stepped outside of his room, he found Saber standing there, in her gown and armor, a yellow raincoat covering her armored form.

"Uh," Shirou said. "I don't think that's what Caster meant when he said street worthy."

"This coat covers my armor," Saber replied evenly. "And Caster and Rin both wear long coats as well."

"But, that's a bit, um." Shirou realized that Saber probably wasn't going to listen to him and decided to let it drop. But it still bothered him as they made their way through the city's rather empty streets.

The clink of her armor as they walked and sheer outrageousness of her outfit seemed to scream for attention as they moved through the city.

But, despite Caster's warning about potential witnesses, the streets were, in fact, deserted.

"It can't be helped," Rin told Shirou as they walked. She'd obviously noticed his discomfort about Saber's choice of attire. "She can't dematerialize. And Caster's right. She can't be seen walking around in full armor."

A few moments later Shirou spoke up again. "Hey, are you planning on walking the whole way to the next city?"

"Yes, I am," Rin replied.

"You know it's been dangerous out lately, right? I can't protect you two if something happens. I can't."

"Oh please, relax! You might be forgetting, but Saber there is a ridiculously strong and powerful Servant. Plus you've got another Saber in your back pocket and I still have Caster if things get really dicey."

They continued walking.

"Master of Archer and Caster," Saber asked after a moment.

"Rin will be fine," the girl answered.

"And please stop calling me Caster," her Servant said, materializing beside Rin as he spoke. "Just call me Harry. No one will recognize me from that alone."

"Very well. Rin, what was Shirou trying to say earlier? I could not comprehend what was spoken."

"You could call it a major misunderstanding," Rin answered. "Or super-foolishness. What he was saying was that if we were attacked along the way, he'll step in and save us like a hero." The sarcasm was hard to miss as Rin finished her statement.

"That's wrong, because Shirou is my Master. _I_ should be the one protecting _him_ ," Saber said.

Rin turned and said, "He's probably not thinking that way at all. As far as Masters and Servants are involved, Shirou really doesn't get it." The mage wandered over to the railing by the river and rested her hands there.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shirou asked.

Rin giggled and lowered herself, her arms now resting on the railing as well. The wind picked up and carried her hair behind her, her jacket rippling like the water of the river beyond them. She rose upright again and simply smiled without answering.

Shirou caught sight of her Caster, Harry, standing to one side. He held a staff of oak in one hand and was looking at Shirou with a smile of his own. The man's smile was more… nostalgic than Rin's. Shirou got the impression that the man was seeing something that no one else was.

* * *

As they reached the church, Saber told Shirou that she would stand watch outside.

"You have Link with you," she said, "and I don't want to step inside."

Likewise, Harry dematerialized, though he promised to be close by. "There's something… off," he explained and then refused to elaborate.

The two Masters walked past the gate and paused before entering the church itself.

"Why do you suppose Saber isn't coming in with us?" Shirou asked Rin.

"She said earlier that she'd been summoned to this era before," Rin answered. "So maybe something happened between her and the fake priest were supposed to see."

They turned to examine the church itself. It was a modest structure, all things considered, set at the end of a wide stone path edged with knee-high hedges. The church stood before a large patch of forest and was out of the way of any busy streets or parts of the city.

All-in-all, it was a quiet sort of place, edged with something that put Shirou just slightly on guard. Maybe it was because it was too quiet, or too isolated from others. The novice mage wasn't sure.

"Tohsaka, what kind of person is this priest?" Shirou asked.

"At one time he was my father's pupil. After Father died he became my guardian. I suppose that makes him both my senior disciple and my second mentor."

"Wait a minute, so the priest is also a mage? Isn't that… contradictory?" Shirou asked.

" _Welcome to Catholicism, kid_ ," came Harry's disembodied voice. " _I don't take much stock in religion as a whole_."

"Yeah, like I said, a genuine fake priest," Rin said and then opened the door to the church.

 **Author's note: Another part of day three down. Quiet chapter today because day three exposition bomb. You should note, however, that there is a certain inconsistency with a pair of Sabers here. More on that later in the story. :)**

 **I have to confess, I expected more people to complain about Link being able to talk. Like, to the point where I had a whole thing written out ready to defend and justify it preemptively. I was, for some reason, expecting people to demand I stay true to the silent treatment the games give or something like that. Thank you, Warden Myst, for advising me to remove that from the previous author's note.**

 **Reishin Amara and Guest: I'm so happy that you're excited about my secondary Saber. I hope you like what I have planned for our Hylian swordsman. He's in for quite the experience, I assure you.**

 **Whelp, I think that covers the highlights for this chapter. To tease you just a bit: we have a new guest for what comes up next chapter. ;)**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 _Justice will not be served until those that are unaffected are as outraged as those who are._ \- Benjamin Franklin

The church was dark, illuminated only from the moonlight streaking in through the windows lining the left hand wall. Pews were arranged in four neat columns all the way down the main room of the church, an aisle separating them down the center. Pillars held up rooms for the floor above in the far two aisles.

At the end of the center aisle was an altar where a priest stood. He was tall, though not as tall as Harry, and he had dark brown hair that fell to just under the collar of his clerical jacket.

"You never accepted my invitations to come by," the priest said, not turning around. "And now here you are with an odd guest." He set down the bible he was carrying and turned to face Rin and Shirou. They could now see that the priest was, in fact, wearing the dark clerical shirt and pants that came with his position. A large cross hung from a wire around his neck and he wore a long, dark jacket as well.

"I take it then that he is the seventh, Rin."

The priest smiled as he said the girl's name and a voice came to Shirou's mind.

" _Be careful around that priest_ ," Link's voice said in Shirou's mind. " _There's something off about him._ " Shirou managed not to flinch at the sudden remark and kept his gaze fixed on the priest.

Rin stood there behind Shirou with her arms crossed as Harry's voice came to her mind as well.

" _I don't like him_ ," Harry whispered to her. " _He reminds me too much of some of the things I've met_."

"My name is Kirei Kotomine," the priest continued. "Perhaps you will tell me your name? Or shall I call you: Seventh Master?"

"Shirou. Emiya."

"Emiya?" Kirei asked. Then he chuckled for a moment. "I take it then, that you are now the Master of both Sabers, Shirou Emiya."

"I made a pact with them, if that's what you mean. But all this stuff about Masters and Servants and the Holy Grail War is just a lot of gibberish to me. If a Master is supposed to be a proper mage, then you really oughta pick somebody else for your war."

Kirei closes his eyes for a moment. "Yes, I see. This is quite serious indeed."

"He knows nothing," Rin said. "You need to start from square one."

"Ah," Kirei said. "Very well. This is the first time you've ever come to me for assistance."

Kirei began to walk forward. "Shirou Emiya. The status of Master cannot be yielded to another. And once conferred cannot be simply walked away from. Being a Master is a trial for those that have been chosen. You will not be freed from the burden of that pain until you win the Grail.

"Now listen carefully. The battle you now find yourself caught up in is known by all involved as the Holy Grail War."

"The messed up war where seven Masters fight to the death? Is that what you mean?" Shirou asked. Kirei didn't so much as blink in reaction to the venom in Shirou's tone.

"It is a ritual, meant to seek out and select the one mage who is worthy of holding the Grail." Kirei turned and started to walk to the left side of the room.

"Now wait, this Holy Grail you keep going on about," Shirou said. "You don't mean _the_ Holy Grail, do you?"

"The Grail that appears in this city is the genuine article. For proof, one need look no further than the miracle of the Servants and the heroic spirits that inhabit them. A Holy Grail capable of that will surely grant the Master who holds it limitless power. The item's authenticity is irrelevant in the face of such a fact."

"Well, why make people go through this Holy Grail war thing then? If it's that powerful, why doesn't everyone just share it?"

"A fair opinion, to be sure, but only one Master may win the Holy Grail. It was not mages who imposed that restriction but rather the Holy Grail itself."

Shirou's eyes went wide for an instant in complete surprise. "It decided? How is that?"

"Everything around you is the work of the Grail itself. It selects its true owner by having seven Masters fight over it. And that is the Holy Grail War."

Shirou stood there, processing everything Kirei had told him. He looked down at his Command Seals, the ultimate power over a Servant. "Well, I'm still not convinced. Even if only one can be chosen I don't like it that that one has to kill all the other Masters."

"Hold on a second," Rin interrupted. "There's no rule that says we have to kill each other, Emiya."

"It is a fight to the death," Kirei stated.

Rin turned her gaze on Kirei, anger radiating off of the young mage. "Oh, Kirei, shut up!" she snapped. Then she turned to Shirou. "Listen to me. The Holy Grail that appears in this town is a spiritual object. Since it's intangible, we can't touch it. Can you guess what that implies?"

Shirou thought for a second and then realization came. Rin noticed. "Right," she said. "The point of the Holy Grail war is to eliminate the Servants of all the other Masters. Which means, that there is no rule saying you have to kill the other Masters in order to win."

"Shirou Emiya," Kirei said. "If I may ask a question? Do you think you are remotely capable of defeating your Servants?"

"Huh?"

"Servants are very difficult to overcome even with another Servant. So how does one prevail? The answer is obvious, is it not? No matter how clever or powerful the Servant, if its Master ceases to be alive, the Servant vanishes with him. In which case…"

"The quickest way is killing the Master," Shirou finished. Just saying the words aloud made Shirou feel sick. He felt a vile taste in his mouth.

"Exactly," Kirei confirmed.

"But what if a Master's Servant is destroyed first?" Shirou asked. An idea had come to him. "Only Servants can touch the Holy grail, right? So a Master whose lost his Servant no longer has any value in the war."

"No," Kirei answered. "As long as his Command Seals remain, so do his rights as a Master. He still has a chance of rejoining the war by teaming up with a Servant that has lost its Master and has nowhere to go. And it is for that reason that Masters kill Masters."

"Okay," Shirou said, trying a different tact. "What if I used all my Command Seals right now?"

"Wait, no! Don't do that!" Rin exclaimed.

"As you have surmised, your rights as a Master would indeed be lost," Kirei answered with a small smile. He started to walk again. "Although, I cannot imagine a mage using magic as powerful as Command Seals in a manner so wasteful and immature. If there were one it would be either an ignorant novice, or merely a coward not worthy of the craft."

That struck a nerve with Shirou and he grimaced in anger. Kirei chuckled. "Have I convinced you?" he asked. "Then let us go back to the beginning, Shirou Emiya." Kirei had made his way to the front door of the church by now. "If you insist on forfeiting your status as Master, you may do so. Simply use your Command Seals and break your pact with your Servants. Should you choose that path, I will guarantee your safety until this Holy Grail war comes to an end."

"Guarantee my safety? Why would I need to be protected by you?" Shirou demanded.

Kirei made his way down one of the right hand aisles. "I was dispatched to this city to officially oversee the series of Holy Grail wars. Safeguarding those who are no longer Masters is one of the Overseer's top priorities."

"Wait, you said series," Shirou said. "Hang on. Are you saying that the Holy Grail war didn't begin just now?"

Kirei finished his circuit of the church and stood before the altar once more. "This one is the fifth," he answered. "The previous one was ten years ago. Making this the shortest cycle in the long history of the war.

"I can't believe this has happened before," Shirou said.

"Yes. And with each new generation of Masters summoned, the Grail war has grown ever more brutal. Driven by desire, Masters have engaged in vicious deeds, including indiscriminate slaughter."

"How could anyone think of doing that?" Shirou asked. "So, what happens if the guy who wins the Grail is a complete and total bastard?"

"It is beyond our ability to stop one whom the Grail has chosen from using the cup. After all, it is the omnipotent chalice that grants any wish. If that is not acceptable to you, Shirou Emiya, then go out and win it yourself. If you do, then, at the very least, it will not end up in the hands of an indiscriminate killer."

Shirou held back his indignation and rage. "No," he said. "I have no reason to fight."

"I see. So you have no interest at all in what the holder of the Grail does? Even if there is a disaster as a result of his all too human flaws?"

"I didn't say that," Shirou growled.

"If you have no reason to fight, then fine." Kirei turned his back on the Masters and faced the altar once again. "Should I also assume that you have no interest in the disastrous events of ten years ago?"

"Ten years ago?"

"Indeed. At the very end of the previous Grail war, an unworthy Master touched the Holy Grail. I know not what is it that Master wished for, all that is clear is the aftermath of the disaster that resulted from his wish."

Shirou had felt the color drain from his face and a cold sweat cover his body as Kirei spoke. Ten years ago… the fire. The pain. "Wait, just a minute," he said, part of him still refusing to accept what he'd been told. "Are you saying?"

"I am. The New City fire whose cause remains unknown to this day is actually the aftermath of that Holy Grail war."

Shirou's legs lost their strength and he lurched to the side, grabbing roughly to a nearby pew for support. "Emiya!" Rin shouted in alarm. Shirou raised his arm to reassure Rin, then he steadied himself again.

"You said that this one is the fifth time," Shirou said. "Has anyone in the past ever actually won the Grail then?"

"One man did indeed hold the Grail in his hands, however briefly," Kirei confirmed.

"Did he get his wish? What happened to him?"

"Nothing at all. It seems that Grail did not achieve completion. The result of a foolish man letting sentiment get the better of him." The last sentence held true ire for just the briefest of moments. "Simply making the Grail appear is trivial. Once the seven Servants are gathered, the Grail will appear in time. As Rin says, it is not necessary to slay the other Masters. But unless you do so, the Grail will not be complete. It chooses the Master who is worthy to command its unlimited power. That is why this man who avoided fighting did not officially win the Grail."

"Hmph," Rin said, disdain in her voice. "In other words, even if you do get the Grail it's pointless if you don't finish off all the other Masters. You see, the Master who got his hands on the Grail in the last war was weak."

"That is all I have to say," Kirei said. "You need to decide right here and now if you will participate in the Holy Grail war, Shirou Emiya."

Shirou stood there, considering what he'd been told. There was considerable motivation for him to participate in this insane war. If nothing else, he could act as a counteracting force. Interfering with the other Masters to keep them from doing anything too extreme. And if he kept the other Masters alive as well, then the Grail could never achieve its full power, preventing some bastard from using the Grail to create a slaughter.

But he was also in way over his head. He'd already been killed once, nearly killed a second time, and had already drawn incredible amounts of attention toward himself and others. The next time a brawl happened near his home, it likely wouldn't be simply gunshots that drew attention.

Shirou considered both sides for a solid two seconds before he made up his mind. There really wasn't any other option he could take.

* * *

As he and Rin left the church, Kirei spoke out to him from the entrance. "You ought to be rejoicing boy. The wish in your heart will at last come true." Shirou turned to face the priest. "Surely, you've realized by now that your wish will not come true without a clear and distinct villain. Even if you refuse to admit it to yourself, a hero of justice must have a villain to defeat. Without that, all your battles will be meaningless."

Shirou and Rin continued down the church path, Link and Harry materializing as Shirou opened the gate.

"I don't like him," Harry said immediately.

"Join the club," Rin replied.

"He's far too good at reading others to be a simple priest," Harry continued. "My gut's saying he has a stake in this. Is it possible he's directly supporting another Master?"

"That'd be against the rules," Rin replied. "The Overseer has to be impartial, since one of his duties is to protect the Masters who seek sanctuary."

"Remind me to tell you about the Sidhe sometime," Harry commented.

Link, surprisingly, didn't comment. He moved beside Shirou, his eyes half closed, as if trying to remember something.

"Shirou," Saber said, coming forward. "Is your business concluded?"

"It is," he replied.

"And?" Saber asked as Rin closed the gate.

Shirou didn't answer for a moment. Then he turned to face Saber. "I've decided I'm gonna fight as a Master. I need to know if you'll consent to serving a novice like me."

"But my consent is irrelevant," Saber said. "Shirou, you have been my Master from the start. Did I not swear a solemn oath to you? That I would be your blade?"

"Right," Shirou said. "Thanks." He paused. "Saber, fight with me till the end," then he held out his hand. "I'll be counting on you." Saber stared at Shirou's outstretched hand, a look of confusion on her face. "What's wrong? You don't want to shake hands?"

"It's not that," Saber said. "I was simply not expecting it. I was startled." Then she gripped Shirou's hand with her gauntleted one. "I will fight with you Master. So long as you have Command Seals, I will be your trusted blade."

Shirou turned to Link as the man pulled his blade from its sheath on his back. He got on one knee and rested his sword, point first on the ground, before himself, his left hand holding the hilt. A trio of triangles shone briefly on the back of his hand, matching the second set of command seals on Shirou's right hand. The blade of the sword glowed slightly with the golden light of the sun.

"My sword and shield are yours to command, Shirou Emiya. Until this pact is done, I shall be a force to clear your path to victory."

Shirou smiled and nodded. Link rose and they shook hands as well. Then they made their way away from Kotumine church.

As they walked down the street, the church's graveyard to their right, Rin stopped walking.

"Is something wrong?" Shirou asked.

"No offense, but you should walk home by yourself," Rin said.

"Huh?"

"I brought you here to see the priest because you weren't officially my enemy yet. But now, you're a fellow Master in this war."

"Yeah, but I have no intention of fighting you."

Rin groaned. "Oh, I should've known. What was I thinking? Why did I even bring him here?"

"Because you're bound to your obligations," Harry said from his position beside Rin. "You have a debt and you can't act until that debts been fulfilled. Trust me, I know what it's like."

"As do I," Link said. "Obligation and duty have been integral to my cycle. I have to fight and save because it's what I've sworn to do. We're all bound by the choices we make." Link swung his sword, which Shirou realized he'd been carrying openly since they left the church, to his shoulder and glanced behind them and added, "Wouldn't you agree, silent observer?"

Everyone spun around to face the top of the hill they'd been walking down.

"So," a young girl's voice asked. "Are you all done chatting?"

Three figures stood in the middle of the cobblestone street. The left one was a hulking brute of a man, the details of his form obscured by the low light and the fog of the evening. He had wild hair and was built like a main battle tank. His arms seemed to have some sort of armor and he wore an armored skirt. He held a blade-like weapon in his right hand of a similar scale to his body.

The one on the right was of average height and build and his figure suggested he was wearing biker leathers. As they watched, the figure became wreathed in flames, adding an extra illumination to the night. The flames revealed his head to be a skull and his hands to be fleshless bones.

The middle figure was small, looking like a child. She was wearing a purple long, winter jacket and hat. Skirts hung out from under the jacket, but the buttoned garment hid anything that might have been underneath. They were clearly clothes meant for colder climates.

Her hair was so white that it seemed to glow, though the flames from one of her companions made it appear to be deep orange.

"That's Berserker," Rin said, staring at the hulking form. Then Harry, of all people, spoke up.

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me!" he exclaimed. He gestured to the figure wreathed in flames. " _Ghost Rider_?! You've got freaking _Ghost Rider_ as a Servant?!"

"Good evening, big brother," the girl said. "That makes it two times we've met!"

 **Author's note: Ladies and gentlemen, we have our new Secondary Servant. The Rider has arrived. As I've promised, and as a Guest rightly pointed out, I have certainly not limited myself to anime characters. :) The current run is now, a book character, a comic/movie character, and a video game character. There actually** _ **is**_ **an anime character running around already, but only if you guys are paying attention.**

 **For those of you who might have been patiently waiting for another fight, boy are you guys about to get your wish fulfilled. I've noticed that, as I've been writing this, that every fight that might have been minor has become so much bigger because the number of combatants have basically doubled.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 _The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination._ \- Albert Einstein

Shirou stood there, utterly confused. Link spun his sword into a ready position and drew his shield. Saber cast aside her raincoat and held her own sword sheathed in air. Harry spun his staff in his hand and drew a short, wooden rod from within his duster.

The girl let out a quiet giggle and then walked a few steps forward and then curtsied, her long white hair shone in the light from a nearby streetlamp.

"It's nice to meet you Rin," the girl said. "My name is Illya. Short for Illyasviel von Einzbern. Von Einzbern, you're familiar with the name, aren't you?"

"Von Einzbern," Rin said. She turned her gaze upon the hulking form of Berserker and added, "That's amazing. In terms of combat ability, that thing out classes either Saber by a lot. I'm not even sure if both of them together could take it on. And with support from a Rider class Servant, they could very well be a nearly unstoppable killing machine."

"That thing could probably kill most of the Servants in this whole damn war," Harry said.

"Meaning we need more than just physical strength to beat him," Rin continued. "I wish Archer was here. He'd be able to give us fire support from further away."

"Leave the cheesy movie character to me," Harry said. "We're going to need both Sabers to keep Berserker busy."

"Very well," Rin said. Harry shook his left wrist, freeing the bracelet from his sleeve. Green light pulsed from the runes and sigils on his staff and the wooden rod burst into carmine light.

"Emiya," Rin said. "It's up to you if you want to fight or run away, but, if you can, try to run far away."

Shirou swallowed and tried to suppress his fear.

"Are you done talking?" Illya asked. "So then, can I get started?" Silence was the only reply she received. "Time to kill you," Illya said. "Okay, go get them Berserker, Rider."

The hulking Servant's muscles bulged and red light seemed to radiate from _inside_ the Servant. It let out a primal roar that sent a shock of air past the group. Then Berserker leapt into the air toward them.

"Shirou, get back!" Saber shouted just as a massive iron ball on a chain flew through the air over them and slammed into the raging Servant. Berserker was knocked from the air and driven straight into the ground to one side.

The iron ball flew back to Link, who was holding the other end of the chain. His boots had been replaced with another pair made of heavy iron and the cobblestone beneath him was cracked with the extra weight.

The warrior caught the giant ball and it shimmered out of existence as did the iron boots. He held out his hand and a bow materialized. He drew back the string and released a series of explosive tipped arrows in rapid succession.

Each time an arrow struck something, whether it was Berserker's sword as it intercepted the shaft, or the hulking brute's body, there was a BOOM as the explosive detonated.

Ghost Rider hadn't been idle, either. The moment Illya had ordered the attack he had begun to spin a chain that had been wrapped around his torso.

Harry had lifted the rod and shouted " _Fuego!_ " releasing a stream of silver-white fire at the Rider.

Ghost Rider flicked a hand, dismissively, and the jet of flame had altered course, striking the ground nearby the Servant. Some of the strike, however, resisted the redirection and struck the Servant in the shoulder.

There was a flash of power and the smell of ozone was suddenly in the air.

"Damnit!" Harry cursed. "Watch out for any flames flying around! He's got Hellfire!"

Then Berserker rose to his feet, apparently unaffected by the bombardment that Link had unleashed upon him.

"No way, those had no effect?" Rin asked. Berserker tensed for a moment, then blurred forward, appearing between Rin and Shirou. "Emiya!" Rin shouted.

Berserker slammed his sword down toward Shirou, only to be intercepted by Saber's own blade as she seemed to appear right next to her Master with her own burst of unnatural speed. Shirou was knocked off of his feet as the sheer force of the blow met Saber's blade.

Saber counterattacked, slamming her sword into Berserker and sending the monstrous Servant flying away from the two Masters.

Berserker landed on his feet and let out a roar of defiance. Link landed equidistant from Berserker as Saber was, but from the other direction, so that the two warriors could come at him from both sides.

There was a cracking sound as Ghost Rider repeatedly swung his chain toward Harry, who was fending off the attacks with his arcane shield. The chain writhing and snapping toward the wizard like a fiery serpent, the barrier appearing in a flash of silver light as Ghost Rider's weapon struck the dome of force.

Every time chain and barrier met, there was a flash of light and the smell of ozone as the Hellfire reacted to whatever power Dresden had brought to bear in defense.

"Come on, Caster," Ghost Rider said. His voice rapsed and sounded to Shirou as though it had come from the depths of Hell itself. "Is that all you can do? Hide behind your shield?" The Rider flung his chain out again and Harry spun out of the way, unnaturally quick for a man of his build.

He pointed his staff at the chain and called, " _Galvanais!_ " The chain suddenly zipped away from him and wrapped around one of the street lamps. Then the wizard pointed his left hand at Ghost Rider and the flaming man was blasted off his feet by an unseen force.

"Get over yourself, numbskull!" he taunted back. "I just wanted you to think you had a shot at this!" Then he shot the Rider a grin. "Hey, do you look like Nicolas Cage under all that fire?"

Ghost Rider surged to his feet and lifted a short rifle, the firearm infused with the flames surrounding his own form and stylized with many dark spikes and other dark protrusions.

Harry lifted his left hand again just as the demonic man opened fire, on Rin. Harry became a blur of motion as he ran and leapt in front of the young mage, interposing his duster covered back between Ghost Rider and the girl just before the bullets would've struck her. Ghost Rider continued to unload into the wizard's back, the rifle apparently not needing to reload.

Bullets bounced off of the duster as if it was a steel wall rather than leather as Harry said, "Sorry, Rin," and slashed at the air behind her. " _Aparturum._ " A doorway opened in the air behind her and he shoved Rin through it. Another door opened several yards away and behind Ghost Rider and Rin fell out of it, letting out a gasp of surprise as she hit the ground.

Ghost Rider turned around in surprise and Harry leveled his staff at him and shouted " _Fulminos!_ "

A bolt of blue-white lightning blasted straight into Ghost Rider's chest and the man was knocked off of his feet once again. "Let's keep this fight between us weirdos," Harry said. And with a shouted word, threw Ghost Rider with unseen force into the forest. Then Harry ran off after him.

Meanwhile, Berserker was almost single-handedly repelling both Saber and Link's attacks. The brute was dodging and counter attacking with something akin to grace as well as undeniable skill. The fact that Saber's sword was covered with air didn't seem to affect Berserker's ability to sense and dodge the sword in the slightest.

The brute also wasn't affected by which hand he held his weapon with, wielding the sword-like slab of stone with the same ability with either hand. Several facts became clear as the two Saber's worked together to try and bring the Servant down.

First, the only weapons in their arsenal that could even leave a mark on Berserker's body were their swords. Link had tried to make use of several different weapons, mostly various swords, and none of them had even left a scratch on Berserker.

Second, that he was clearly stronger than both of them put together. Even with the addition of a pair of golden gauntlets on Link's arms, Berserker still had greater physical strength than the pair of them.

Third, they needed some more cover if they were going to have any hope of destroying this Servant. Engaging him in the open like they were was allowing him to make too much use of his greater strength, speed, and reach.

Saber engaged with Berserker again and let him gain a hit on her, throwing her toward the forest and letting her lead the brute away from Rin and Shirou. Link pursued at high speed, his boots shifting into the pair with wings as they had earlier that night.

Crashes and plumes of debris marked the path that the warriors traveled, their conflict not ceasing for a moment as they traveled.

Rin watched as Illya walked away from the carnage and entered the forest herself. Then she turned and moved within earshot of Shirou, who stood there in utter amazement and terror.

Listen to me!" Rin shouted at him. "Get away from here, now!" Then she took off after the conflict.

Shirou's legs gave out the second Rin was out of sight. He slumped to the ground on his hands and knees, his breathing ragged, overwhelmed by what was going on around him.

"Damn it," he cursed and slammed his fist on the ground. "I'm useless. I couldn't even move." He looked around at the swath of destruction left in the wake of the battling Servants. Small craters made from impacts, a lamp post melted into slag where Ghost Rider's chain had wrapped around it.

He looked away, disgusted with himself. "What could someone like me possibly do to monsters like that?" If every Servant was as powerful as these two, how in the world would he be able to keep them in line?

The loud crashes and explosions continued in the forest and Shirou turned to face them. There was a rumble and a thunderstorm began to rapidly appear over the forest. That would likely be Caster, though as to what purpose the storm served Shirou had no idea.

Shirou watched the unseen conflict for a moment and then looked at his hand. He and Saber had made a promise, had shaken hands. So had he and Link. To sit there like a helpless child was a betrayal of that promise to be by their side. He had to help, in any way he could.

So he marshaled his fear and clenched his fist. "I'm gonna fight with her, with both of them." He hit himself in the head, trying to knock his courage into the front of his mind. Then he rose and took off after the battle.

* * *

Saber and Link continued to clash with the enormous berserker. Now that they were within the confines of the forest, they switched from an all out brawl to a version of wolfpack tactics.

One saber would engage with Berserker and the other would flank him and attack him from his blind side. The brute's highly attuned instincts prevented any of the blind side attacks from achieving any serious injuries, but they _were_ marking the creature. Slashes covered Berserker's hulking form, shedding blood but not slowing the creature by any noticeable margin.

Saber and Link kept no pattern to their strategy, falling into an instinctive unit. Sometimes they would alternate the primary distractor, sometimes it would be the same Servant a few times in a row, and sometimes they would attack simultaneously.

They forced Berserker to react rather than attack, controlling how much he could press his greater strength and reach against either of them.

As they clashed, a thunderstorm suddenly began to appear and rain began pelting the combatants. The thunderous strikes of weapon against weapon were joined by true thunder rumbling in the skies. The rain slickened the ground they moved across, but none of the warriors seemed to notice, all three of them skilled enough to compensate for the change out of reflex.

The battle brought them into an expansive graveyard and both sabers adjusted instantly to the new environment, making use of the large gravestones to hide their presence and move unseen around Berserker.

That was when their strikes started to leave deeper cuts and Link started using one of his other tools. Several of the graves had large statues instead of headstones or markers. Link pulled a rod from a pack at his side and pointed it at various statues. Green light shot from the rod and infused itself into the statues he directed the rod at.

Then the statues came to life and joined the fray, mimicking the movements Link made with the rod and his body. The statues couldn't penetrate whatever defense Berserker had against physical blows, but they forced the Servant to pay attention to a greater number of factors and allowed Saber to get in more strikes.

Berserker was clearly starting to grow frustrated, but Link and Saber both knew that the only way to beat him was to either win a war of attrition, or hope that Rin's Caster could join the fray. That was, assuming, that Berserker didn't have similar defenses against metaphysical methods of attack as well.

Berserker growled, his eyes shifting to try and locate the Sabers silently moving around him.

* * *

Harry Dresden made his way through the forest, his senses, both physical and arcane, seeking Ghost Rider's location. Throwing the demon into the forest was a risky move, but it was the only thing he could think of to get him away from Rin and Shirou. If the Rider managed to kill either Master, things would get a lot grimmer in a hurry.

He'd thankfully recognized the demonic man for what he was and had planned his first moves accordingly, but, like himself, Ghost Rider was likely not as restricted as he was in his own world.

The comic/movie character's own powers were likely enhanced by the stupid Grail, just as his own were. The best way to kill Ghost Rider was to shut him down fast, before he could make use of whatever powers had been augmented by the Grail.

So far, he'd been what Harry had expected. Infusing objects with the demonic Hellfire to augment them and bring them under his will, as well controlling other sources of flame. That first jet of flame had been a test, and Harry didn't like the results. Ghost Rider could indeed control whatever fire spells he threw at him, and while the Soulfire had resisted the subversion, it hadn't been enough to harm the demonic Servant.

The Rider's Penitence Stare wasn't a power he'd likely use, since it required eye contact. That left his ability to summon a mount, which he'd probably done the instant he'd landed, and his ability to instinctively sense the guilty from the innocent. But that last power was almost useless in this circumstance. It wouldn't let him actively track an individual, unless...

"Oh shit," Harry said just as the roar of a motorcycle's engine came to his ears.

He leapt out of the way just before the flaming, demonic motorcycle could run him down. Ghost Rider let out a laugh as the line of flame left by the travelling bike started to set the forest on fire.

"Guilty," Ghost Rider said, pointing a bone finger at Harry. "You have committed terrible crimes, Caster."

A flash of the temple. Laying a kiss on Susan's head. Blood on his hands. "Okay, so I forgot about the parking ticket," Harry quipped, pushing away the phantom of the past. "And the extra can of soda in my pocket when I was shopping. And, yes, I did put the toilet paper roll on backwards specifically to annoy Thomas."

Ghost Rider snapped his hand to one side and the fire that had been licking at the trees suddenly blazed into a conflagration.

"You mock my power at your peril, Caster."

Harry slammed his staff into the ground and shouted, " _ **Storm Front!**_ " Power rippled through the air and storm clouds suddenly materialized in the sky. Heavy rain began to fall and thunder rumbled.

The flames began to shrink as the downpour dumped water upon everything in the forest.

"You aren't the only one here with greater power, Ghost Rider," Harry said. The demon growled and drew some of the flames into his hands before pitching them at Harry.

The wizard brought his shield to bear again, again infusing the barrier with the Soulfire Uriel had given him. Soulfire was the angelic equivalent of the demonic Hellfire Ghost Rider had at his disposal, the angelic power being the perfect defense to counteract the Hellfire of the assault.

Then Harry spun his staff at Ghost Rider, called upon Winter, and said, " _Infriga Fozarre_." The rain around him stopped and froze into spikes of ice before launching like bullets at the enemy Servant.

Ghost Rider wasn't fast enough to avoid the attack, and the spikes of ice, called into being with the power of Winter, overcame the defenses of the demon's fiery form and sank into his body. Ghost Rider howled in pain and rage and Harry smirked.

"It gets better," he called out and with a spoken word, covered the ground around them in a layer of Winter ice. Now if he could just get him off of his motorcycle.

"Do you forget what I am, Caster?" Ghost Rider demanded. He revved the engine of his bike and drove it toward Harry.

Harry dodged the charging vehicle and spun his staff in a swing at the demon. Ghost Rider turned and caught the staff with his hand and held fast as he drove past, yanking the weapon from Harry's hand.

The shaft of wood promptly vanished, as any weapon of a Servant did in the hand of another Servant against the owner's will. But it would take a precious second for the staff to come back, and Harry didn't have that kind of time.

He triggered another band on one of the kinetic force rings on his left hand and the blast of unseen force slammed into Ghost Rider, sending him careening into a tree. Ghost Rider rose a moment later and glared at Harry.

"You're beginning to annoy me," he hissed.

"You're the guy that asked for a fight," Harry said. "Not me." Ghost Rider growled and laid his hand on the fallen tree.

Hellfire flowed into the tree and it began to crack and twist. The roots of the tree formed into legs and branches began to twist into arms.

"Uh-oh," Harry said. He reached out into the storm he had called and drew power from the raging clash of the elements. With a word, he brought down a bolt of lightning straight onto the now demonic tree.

It let out an unearthly shriek and blazed with newly sparked fire. Ghost Rider laughed and flicked a hand toward Harry. The demon tree charged, its sheer weight breaking through the layer of slick ice on the ground while the fire from its now burning branches leapt ahead of it toward him.

Harry raised his shield in a dome around himself just in time to block the fiery assault. The tree demon raised an arm as thick as a small tree trunk and slammed it into the shield and then continued to pommel into the barrier.

Each strike revealed the silver barrier and grew steadily closer as the shield began to weaken.

Harry was starting to feel tired. Throwing those heavy spells was starting to take its toll, alongside the use of his Noble Phantasm, not to mention the physical side-effects of using Soulfire, which used his own lifeforce as a power source. Granted he was a lot more soul than flesh now, but it still was draining. He needed a way to kill this thing before it broke through his shield and turned him into paste.

Fire wasn't an option, not with Ghost Rider right there, waiting for more fuel to fight with. Lightning, too, was out, even with the rain. The damn tree monster had enough mass resist all but his most powerful gale, so wind was also out. That left ice or force. But in order to counter attack, he'd have to drop the barrier.

"Come out, come out, Caster! Are we done playing now?" Ghost Rider called. The Rider's voice was moving, but the demon tree was blocking his vision too much to see what Ghost Rider was doing.

Harry lifted his staff, now returned to his hand and pointed it at the demon tree. An idea had just occurred to him. Something that would let him keep his shield up, since it only prevented him from throwing forces _through_ it.

"Play with this, asshole. _Infriga!_ " The fire that wreathed the tree suddenly ripped free and left the demonic plant frozen in a solid block of ice.

"What the-" Ghost Rider asked, just as Harry redirected the heat he had moved _back_ into the tree he had just frozen. The heat sublimated the frozen water inside the tree, turning it into rapidly expanding steam. As a result, the tree monster simply exploded into flying chips of wood. Harry dropped the shield and turned to look at Ghost Rider, then froze in place.

The demonic man was now _surrounded_ by demon trees. Each one was at least as big as the one he'd just turned into garden mulch. Every single one of them locked their gazes on him.

"Fuck this," Harry said before turning and running for dear life. The army of demonic trees shrieked and followed.

 **Author's note: So, the war is now definitely going full steam ahead. I hope you guys are enjoying the battle thus far. The entire fight was originally one BIG chapter, but I really wasn't comfortable with something quite that big as a single chapter. I'm very comfortable with the lengths of my chapters and I prefer to keep them around a certain word or page count.**

 **More importantly, we're finally seeing what our Secondary Servants can do! What Dresden thought is actually correct as well. Because these new Servants are each from another world, they can gain all the perks of their own world systems while taking advantage of the removal of certain restrictions because they're now in the Nasuverse/ are now Servants.**

 **For example: Dresden can use Soulfire a lot more often since he's far less likely to kill himself now, while Ghost Rider's ability to determine the guilty from the innocent is combined with the Servant's ability to sense other Servants without the Presence Concealment skill. Basically, if any Servant has done terrible things, like Harry, they're basically going to be a giant beacon for him within a certain range.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 _Manners maketh man._ \- Harry Hart, Kingsmen

Rin made her way through the forest, tracking her target as silently as she could. That was both helped and hindered by the thunderstorm that was going on overhead. Her feet made slashing sounds as she moved, but the downpour was loud in of itself so it balanced out.

Once Illya, her target, stopped moving, Rin lifted her arm and released a series of Gundr shots straight at the girl's back.

Thin strands moved from the white haired girl and intercepted each pulse of magical energy. Rin grimaced. So much for a surprise attack.

"Gosh," Illya said. "You scared me. Attacking an unarmed girl without warning? What are you, an animal, Rin?" As the girl spoke, a pair of birds made of glowing white lines materialized behind her. Then she turned to give Rin a look. "Or maybe, this is just the Tohsaka's way of fighting?"

"Ha! What are talking about? You're the one that started the fight. Once begun we do anything to win, right? Or are you going to start from the beginning and introduce yourself like a well-mannered girl?"

Illya was a bit too far away to shoot. She'd have to destroy the birds first.

"A well-mannered girl?" Illya asked, turning away. "Well, I might have considered it if you were that boy you were with. But I don't feel like it with you. You don't interest me the slightest bit. Besides," and she turned her head to look at Rin. "What do you want me to say to someone who's going to die here in the next few minutes?"

Rin opened fire. The bird familiars opened fired in response, their own magical bursts intercepting Rin's Gundr shots. Then they circled Illya before rising and diving toward Rin, continuing to fire.

Tohsaka fired a few more times before turning and fleeing down the forest path she was on. The birds pursued her and she spun, firing again, trying to knock down the evasively flying birds. Her attack wasn't any more successful than the first and the birds' continuous fire forced Rin back and, eventually, down a fall.

Rin landed with a thud and scowled in frustration. _Those are autonomous types that pursue on their own_ , she thought. _Plus, they're even generating mana themselves, like some kind of mini-mages. But high-performance familiars like these must have some sort of limitation I can exploit._

"Gosh, what nimble prey," Illya said as she approached Rin's hiding place. "I think I'm going to add two more just for you." Then she pulled a strand of hair with each hand, and two more of the familiars formed and hovered near her.

"Oh, come on!" Rin complained. If those birds flanked her, she was done for. The only way to win was to fight aggressively. She pulled a few green gems from her jacket, then she climbed out of her hiding place and faced Illya head-on.

Illya seemed shocked at the move. "A frontal assault? That's brave, but very foolish, Rin."

The Tohsaka ran to one side and then triggered her gems with a shouted word. The familiars opened fire and green light swirled before Rin, resolving itself into a slowly spinning plane of green light like an enormous window or mirror.

Now that she was protected, Rin attacked in earnest, arcing two Gundr shots and destroying two of the familiars.

"Two more to go!" Rin shouted, then a force went straight through her barrier and barely missed her head. The barrier shattered and Rin realized that one of the birds had become a huge sword made of the same lines of white light that the birds had been. "No way, the familiar changed its shape?"

"So you can fend off Zell, but you can't block Dayeth," Illya observed and her final bird familiar shifted into another sword. "I thought this was going to be fun. Too bad." The sword lifted higher into the air, clearly lining up its shot as Illya continued. "Well, this is the end. I believe impalement would suit a vulgar doe like you."

The sword glowed more intensely and then blasted forward. A doorway of light opened directly in front of Rin and Harry Dresden flopped out of the gate like a fish, his duster billowing around him.

The sword familiar flew through the still open gate and Rin heard the sounds of shrieking and shattering wood as the gate closed.

Harry leapt to his feet, said "Sorry, got to borrow this," to the flabbergasted Illya, grabbed Rin and ran through another gate he opened with a word. The gate closed and Rin saw that they were elsewhere in the forest.

"You okay?" he asked Rin.

"Yeah, that was perfect timing."

"What am I if not dramatic?"

"My back was too the wall. That girl's a monster, beyond common sense, creating familiars out of hair like that." She looked at her Caster. "What about your own fight? Did you defeat Rider?"

"Uh, no," Harry answered. "I bailed when he decided to make all the trees in the area want to end the night with a Dresden nightcap."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was. Ghost Rider has an ability to infuse objects with demonic power, Hellfire. It allows him to alter vehicles or weapons to be more effective for his needs. I'm fairly certain that's his Noble Phantasm. Converting objects to his needs."

"And the rain?" Rin asked.

Harry flashed her a smile. "That was me. A little trick from the Shadowman, a confluence of natural energy that can be used to fuel my spells when I need it. Thanks to the Grail, I have greater control over the storm as well. It's what's keeping Ghost Rider from just setting the forest on fire and using those flames to kill us all."

"Who's the Shadowman?" Rin asked.

Harry sighed. "Case one," he answered. Then he shook himself. "We should find the Sabers. See how they're doing against Berserker."

Harry stood there for a moment, then slashed his staff through the air and opened another doorway of light. He and Rin stepped through and were standing on top of a ledge overlooking the graveyard turned battlefield.

* * *

Things were not going well for Saber and Link. The biggest problem with a war of attrition was that it took so much time. The two sabers had Berserker locked down, but the attacks they scored weren't slowing the brute down in the least.

Saber and Link were getting tired, and it was becoming crystal clear to Saber that they weren't going to win at this rate. She hung back for a moment while Link engaged with Berserker and shook her head to clear her eyes.

They needed to do something or they were finished. Both of them were tired, the physical exertion of combat wearing even the heroic spirits down.

Link attacked again, performing a spinning attack that seemed to be a signature move in his fighting style and Berserker counter attacked, landing a heavy strike directly into his side. Link was launched off of his feet and sent careening into a massive gravestone.

The warrior dropped to the ground and didn't get back up. He didn't vanish, so he was still alive, but Berserker had struck him with such force that he'd been knocked unconscious, or at least stunned.

Saber readied herself to fight again, and felt a flash of pain in her side where Gae Bolg had struck her. That wasn't good. She ignored the pain and charged into the fray once again.

She had to fight; it was the only way she'd be able to gain the Grail. She charged in with a cry and Berserker met her blade with his own.

They danced across the destroyed graveyard, Saber able to withstand the strikes Berserker returned, if only barely. As she moved back from the exchange, there was a roar as a flaming motorcycle flew out of the forest and blindsided her, sending her hurling through the air.

Saber blinked at the sudden revelation and leapt back just as the motorcycle charged her in truth, rather than in her mind. The vehicle missed her and she spent a passing thought thanking her intuition for the insight.

Illya's Rider spun the bike around and faced her. Berserker shifted his position, forcing Saber to spend more effort to keep both of them in her line of sight.

 _They work together too well,_ she thought. _They've practiced together, somehow._

Ghost Rider revved his bike's engine and charged her again. A bolt of force so dense that it clouded the air it passed through struck the motorcycle and rendered the vehicle into scrap metal. Saber thought she smelled sulfur as the bolt blasted past her.

Ghost Rider howled and rolled as he struck the ground, and Saber turned in time to see Berserker's giant stone sword swinging through the air and straight into her injured side.

She was launched off of her feet and into a gravestone like Link, but she managed to retain her consciousness. Blood spilled from her injury and she struggled to her feet, using her sword as a crutch to help rise.

Her vision went red. She had to win. She wasn't going to give up, no matter what the battle did to her body. She poured her entire will into remaining focused on the battle.

"You're not going to win this!" Illya's voice called out from the trees. "Berserker isn't your average Servant! He's the strongest hero in all of Greek history!"

"Oh come on!" Harry's voice called out. "You got Hercules too?!"

"She'll just regenerate, so finish her off, Berserker! Rider, deal with the annoying green one!"

Berserker lumbered forward and lifted his giant sword. Ghost Rider turned toward Link, but was stopped by a bolt of force slamming him in the chest.

Berserker brought the sword down just as a figure dashed from the cover of the trees.

"Leave her alone!" Shirou cried out. He grabbed hold of Saber and threw her aside, just in time for the sword to strike him in the back.

Berserker wasn't human. He was a Greek legend, most of whom had a considerable amount of divine strength. Saber and Link were both Servants, given form and great power by the Grail and could protect themselves from such feats of raw physical power. But Shirou didn't have any power or protections against attack like they did.

The sharpened slab of stone cut through him and the sheer force of the blow nearly drove the weapon clean through his body. Shirou hit the ground and blood began to spurt from the gaping slash in his torso.

Shirou screamed in agony as he fell and then grew quiet. Horror and fear coursed through Saber as she watched helplessly from where Shirou had shoved her.

"Shirou?!" she shouted, rising to unsteady feet. "Shirou?!"

Nothing moved, everyone staring in absolute shock at what had just happened.

"Why did he do that?" Illya asked, her stunned voice carrying through the silence that pressed in around them.

Saber stared at Shirou's unmoving form, a million thoughts and emotions swirling around her mind. Then her eyes went cold and she turned her gaze upon Illya's position. She could see the girl now, standing on a ledge and gazing at Shirou in complete shock. Their eyes met and Illya's expression grew into a childish pout.

"Geez, this has gotten boring," she complained. "Come on Berserker, Rider!" The two Servants immediately dematerialized and Illya wandered into the woods.

A moment passed and then Rin ran out of the woods toward Shirou's unmoving form. "You idiot!" she shouted. "What were you thinking? Did you really think you would be able to save her?"

Her words fell on deaf ears. Shirou was long past hearing.

* * *

-Interlude-

"'Too many voices and too many desires will confound you,'" Kirei read aloud. "'Talk is cheap. Man's sin is lying.'"

"There a slight sneer on your lips, Holy man," came the reply from the shadows. "That look really shouldn't be shown to other people."

Kirei calmly closed the book in his hand. "Is that what it looked like?" he asked.

"Indeed it did," his companion answered, a pleased sneer in his own voice. "A smile befitting a shameless rogue. Did you have a pleasant encounter, Kotomine?"

"Yes, I did," the priest replied. "I feel as though I've been reunited with an old friend. How could I not be happy?"

It would take a man who knew Kotomine well to spot any sort of change in the priest's nearly emotionless tone. His companion did, or at least well enough.

Kirei turned to face his companion, who sat in one of the backmost pews of the currently empty church. His companion's posture was completely relaxed in an atmosphere that was largely creepy to anyone else who might have entered the building. Then again, his companion had no reason to fear. Fear, as he would say, was for lesser beings.

"As you've predicted," Kirei continued, speaking around his musings and observations. "The Holy Grail war has begun again after a mere ten years. Though the addition of these new Servants is an interesting development."

"When the waters of power are pent up, then they must find other paths to flow," his companion observed, poetically. "I am curious to what treasures they may bear and if any are truly worthy of my eye."

"As Overseer, I can only pray that the miracle will be fulfilled and the Grail will materialize this time."

"Even if this land turns into Hell in the process?"

"What happens on the path to the Grail is no concern of mine," Kirei answered. "After all, it is the role of the Masters to struggle to kill and to crush those who would stop them." Kirei lifted his head to gaze at the ceiling and felt his lips part in a vicious smile.

His companion let out a pleased chuckle at the expression.

"'Our lord who is in Heaven will forgive all the sins in the world,'" Kirei quoted, as any priest could. He turned his attention back to the front of the church, his back facing his companion once again. "But first, we must wait a little while. Wait and see what the outcome of this first battle will be."

There was a rumble, not from outside. Neither the sudden thunderstorm nor the battling Servants were responsible for this disturbance.

The source came from below them. A rumble from a great impact against stone. Kirei tensed in irritation. He wasn't fond of annoying interruptions. Surprises were interesting, but not interruptions.

"The battle has not grown closer," his companion observed blithely.

"No," Kirei answered. "The idiot is merely filled with pent up energy. He has been denied the glory he seeks."

"Ah," his companion said. "I trust you will deal with this issue?"

"In time," Kirei answered. "In time."

* * *

-Interlude-

"Holy God," he said, amazement thickening his accent. "How the Hell are we supposed to fight that thing?"

"I thought you were the strategist?" she answered.

"Yes," he drawled. "But that don' mean I can come up with a comprehensive plan in five seconds." He sighed. "So, we're up against the strongest hero in Greek history? Hercules himself?"

"Yep," she answered simply.

"An' Ghost Rider," he continued. "Who ain't exactly sunshine and bunnies either."

"Yep," she answered simply.

He sighed. "Your repartee needs some work there, Archer." He could feel her rolling her eyes, walling away the distracting irritation and maintaining her cold, rational calculation.

"It looks like they're leaving," she reported. "Have you seen everything you needed to?"

"At least everythin' we're gonna get this time around," he answered. He let out a breath. Hercules, Ghost Rider, and… the wizard.

Some vacation this turned out to be.

* * *

 **Author's note: So, two special things for this chapter. We have our first VN style interlude. That was actually Warden Myst's idea. Because of how certain events need to play out, we found a need to have segments focused on certain characters that weren't main characters. The interlude is the result. Plus, without these interludes, the chapter was annoyingly short, but too long to simply attach to the previous chapter for me to be comfortable.**

 **Our second special thing is, in fact, our second interlude. I will note, that I never said that the new characters were** _ **exclusively**_ **Secondary Servants. -evil smile- Take that how you want.**

 **Special shoutout to Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros (lovely name, by the way) who gave me a review bomb in the middle of the night. :D I'm really happy to see that you're enjoying this story and that you're this invested in the events. You're also going to make me break my little rule about revealing/not revealing Servants. Sadly, Noctis will not be joining us for this little venture. Words cannot describe how CLOSE it came. I must confess, I never thought of making him an Archer (I always saw him as a Saber), but it makes complete sense (because screw you Gilgamesh). I am a HUGE fan of Final Fantasy XV, but I ultimately had to choose Link as my Saber. He was easier to write and was more compatible with Shirou. Plus, there is a chance that Noctis might appear in… other stuff I may or may not be planning.**

 **Also, for those of you who might be VN readers and curious about Servant mechanics, I actually have full Servant stat sheets for my secondary Servants. Sometime soon I'm going to set up a section on my profile that will have all of the Servant data that Rin and Shirou have discovered about these Servants thus far. As they progress through the story, this section will update. So be sure to keep an eye out for those!**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if want the discussion to be less public.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

' _Where do we find allies?' Father Yarvi smiled. 'Among our enemies, where else?'_ \- Joe Abercrombie, Half the World

"When I was little," Kiritsugu said. "I really wanted to be a hero." He and Shirou sat on the porch of their home, looking out at the night's sky.

"What are you talking about?" Shirou asked turning to face his father. "You don't want to anymore? Did you just give up?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Kiritsugu said. He looked… tired, like had for so long now. For as long as Shirou had known the man who had become his father, Kiritsugu always seemed to be weary. He hid it well, and it didn't seem to affect the way he thought or acted, but he always seemed slightly tired. Shirou was scared that, one day, his father would eventually give up. That's he simply close his eyes and surrender to whatever struggle he'd been facing.

"It seems those dreams expire when you grow up," he continued. "It's hard to call yourself one, too bad. I wish I'd realized that sooner."

"I see," Shirou said, looking away. "Guess there's nothing you can do."

"Guess not. Nothing I can do."

"Fine," Shirou said, decisively. "Since you can't, I'm gonna be a hero for you." Kiritsugu looked at him. "You're an adult, so you can't do it anymore. But I still can!" Shirou raised his arms in excitement. "Leave it to me," he assured his father. "I'll make it happen."

Shirou stopped as he looked into Kiritsugu's eyes. There was the weariness, and love, but also pride, and hope in the man's gaze. Shirou didn't know what Kiritsugu saw, but whatever it was made the man smile.

"All right," he said. He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. "I can rest now."

* * *

Shirou awoke with a jolt. The first thing he noticed was that he hurt absolutely everywhere. He looked down at himself and saw that his lower torso and left shoulder were completely wrapped in bandages. He couldn't place why either fact would be present, but the sore pain coursing through his body suggested that they were, for whatever reason, needed.

He got dressed and cleaned himself up. As he rinsed his mouth from brushing his teeth, he noticed blood mixed with the water.

"What's that blood about?" he asked. He knew it couldn't be his gums, he took care of his teeth too well for that. He left the bathroom and made his way down the hall, trying to put the pieces of the previous day together in his mind. "Did this all happen last night? Where was I?" he wondered aloud.

He opened the door to the living room and saw Rin Tohsaka kneeling at the table drinking a cup of tea. She wasn't wearing her school uniform or jacket, but rather a long-sleeved, red blouse with a white cross on it as well as a black skirt. Her hair was still in its usual style with the black bows creating a pair of tails to frame her face.

"Well, good morning," she said. "I hope you're not upset but I decided to let myself in."

"W-What are you doing here?" Shirou asked, baffled as to why _Rin Tohsaka_ , of all people, was sitting at his dining table.

"Do you realize you don't have any decent tea in this entire house?" Rin asked, not answering his question. "If you're going to insist on using tea bags, at least use the triangular ones."

"Uh, Tohsaka," Shirou asked. "Just what are you doing-"

"Wait a sec," she said, interrupting him. "Don't I at least deserve a little thank you for carrying you all the way home last night? Caster was busy with Saber and Link so I carried you to help with the load."

"You carried me? Caster?" Then the memory hit him. Lancer, Saber and Link, the church, the battle, running out to save Saber and getting hit instead. "We were attacked by that monster. He hit me when I- But, I was sure I was dead." He looked at Rin. "So what did happen? How am I still alive?"

"Your wounds just started to heal on their own," Rin answered.

"What are you talking about?"

"From what I can tell, Saber seems to be able to regenerate on her own. So maybe your body has found a way to tap into that." Shirou stared at her. "It's theoretically impossible for a Servant to transfer magical power to their Master even if they want to," Rin added. "But we can't forget that you are the impossible Master."

"What the heck does that mean?" Shirou asked.

"For starters, Masters don't put their neck on the line to save their Servants. It doesn't make sense. Think about it for a second, if you'd died then Saber and Link would go away too."

"But I couldn't just stand there and watch her die!" Shirou exclaimed. Rin gave him a look and opened her mouth, but then her eyes narrowed in annoyance and she visibly decided to change the subject.

"And for another thing the dichotomy between your Servants makes no sense either. Saber's summoning was incomplete, so she can't dematerialize or regain mana like other Servants. But Link can. From what he's told me, he's getting a flow of mana from you that's able to sustain him without difficulty."

Shirou shrugged. "I don't have any clue about that, remember?"

Rin sighed. "Yeah, I was hoping asking you might help spark an idea, but it was a bust." She toyed with the tea bag in her cup and Shirou decided to have some himself. He needed to do something with his hands.

Rin's expression shifted several times, as if she was having a silent argument with someone. Shirou's took a drink of his tea just as Rin asked, "So, how about you and I stay together?"

It was an act of absolute will that Shirou didn't spit out his tea. He still choked a little before he spluttered a "WHAT?"

Rin smirked slightly and added, "As a team. Considering the circumstances it makes sense, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked.

"I'm down one Servant," Rin explained. "It'll take maybe another day before Archer is back in fighting shape. And while Caster is certainly a capable Servant, they work best at a distance, behind a series of protections. Archer is a more precise and mobile defender, so he can work within a surprise attack more effectively.

"Secondly, until Berserker and Ghost Rider are taken care of, we're going to be at a serious disadvantage. You got to experience first-hand what Berserker is capable of, and it was clear that he and Ghost Rider work together far too well for a pair of Servants who just met. Caster is convinced that they've been working together for longer than the war."

"Wait," Shirou said. "How could Caster know that?"

"He said it was his job to notice and investigate these sort of things and that 'a little bird' helped him."

"'A little bird?' Is that what he calls you?"

Rin shot him a hard look and Shirou flinched out of sheer reflex. "Call me that again and I'll kill you right now." Shirou thought she was joking. Maybe.

"Anyway," Rin continued. "There's also the problem that every Master now has two Servants that they can work with. They'll be able to cover twice the distance they normally could and plan more elaborately as a result." She took a drink and added, "Plus if anyone's house is going to blow up, yours is far easier to replace than mine."

Shirou let out a sound as Rin rose to her feet. "So," she asked. "What do you think? As the Master with two Sabers, you arguably have the secure position in this whole war, even with your complete lack of skills."

"Gee, thanks," Shirou mumbled.

"Don't mention it," Rin answered. She cocked her hips to one side and rested a hand on one of them. "So, partners?"

"Why do I feel like these are terms rather than an offer?" Shirou asked. The door to the dining room slid open and Harry walked inside, carrying a bundle wrapped in paper.

"Because, to quote the Summer Lady, 'You can tell a hawk from a handsaw when the wind is southerly,'" he said.

"Isn't that a quote from Shakespeare?" Shirou asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's the other way around, kid."

Rin huffed. "It's a simple question, Emiya. Are you willing to work together or not?"

"Of course I'm willing to help," Shirou said. "But I don't plan on killing anyone."

"Your kidding?" Rin said. "You do know this is a battle to the death, right?"

"Say what you want, I'm not going to kill anyone."

"And if one of the other Masters goes too far?"

"Then I'll stop them."

"Oh, so you won't defeat anyone, but if they cross the line _then_ you'll stop them?"

"Yes."

Rin opened her mouth, but Harry spoke up. "Rin," he said in the same tone that parents used on their children. "Leave him alone." The mage shook her head. Then she and her Servant left, Shirou accompanying them to the door.

"You didn't have to see me out," Rin told Shirou as she put on her shoes. Harry's hiking boots simply materialized, which Shirou thought was both neat and unfair.

"Well, I still need to say 'Thank you,'" Shirou said. Rin stopped in surprise. "For carrying me home and everything. I appreciate it." Then he gave her a small bow.

Rin sighed and stepped out of the home and slid the door closed.

* * *

As she closed the door and began to walk away, Rin turned her attention on Dresden. "Why did you stop me, Caster? You know his attitude is going to get him killed. He doesn't take this seriously enough."

"I think he's looking at this whole thing seriously enough," Harry told her. "Is he naive? Probably, and I think that one of these days he's going to get a bad wake-up call. But I've been in plenty of situations where the smart choice was to wait and likely let someone die."

"What did you do?" Rin asked.

"I ran in anyway," Harry replied. "Because I could never live with myself if I didn't help someone when I was standing there and able to." He gave Rin a look that showed his dark eyes, heavy with memories. His right hand clenched for a moment. "We all have our choices to make, Rin. I think Shirou will make the right one, when it comes. I just hope he's prepared for what might happen as a result." He hefted the bundle he was carrying. "Which brings us, incidentally, to this." He handed it to Rin.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Preparation," he told her. "While you were out, showing us the town, I made a quick stop at a store and placed an order. I finished working on it last night after our little tussle. Thank you Item Creation skill."

Rin unwrapped the bundle and unfurled a long, red, leather duster in the same style as her Servant's and sized to fit her. "Why?" she asked in confusion. Then added, "How did you even pay for this?"

In response, Harry held up a wallet. "It's amazing what the Grail takes into account when it drags our sorry asses into this stupid war. It apparently decided I would need my wallet, a few thousand in cash, several copies of my currently useless business card, my old S.I. consultant badge, and one of Thomas' credit cards, for whatever reason."

"And why did you give me a jacket, of all things? I have one."

"That, right there, is a water proof, stain proof, knife proof, claw proof, _bullet_ proof fashion statement. You will be wearing it for at _least_ the duration of the entire war. Ghost Rider's out there, and he, or a more progressively minded Master, will just shoot you if it's more convenient. That should at least serve as a deterrent until you can bring magical defenses to bear."

Rin blinked in surprise. It hadn't actually occurred to her that a Servant, or even a Master, might employ more modern methods of assault during the conflict. It wasn't unheard of for a mage to employ modern technology, but heretics like that were few and _very_ far between. But, then again, both Dresden _and_ Ghost Rider had pulled firearms in their conflicts, and seemed to have pulled them out of reflex rather than because they didn't have a choice. Logic dictated, therefore, that the other secondary Servants might have similar methods of attack.

She shivered with the realization and quickly put the coat on. It would be wise for her to study whatever enchantments her Caster had placed upon the coat, so that she could replicate them after she won the Grail.

* * *

Shirou stood at the door where Rin and Caster had left, letting the reality of what he had decided finally wash over him. One thing was for certain: He had to have a plan. He needed some way to out muscle the other Masters, something that would convince them to stay in check.

He didn't want anyone to die. Even the Servants were people. Saber had thrown herself in front of Berserker's first strike and had continued to try and fight even when she'd been severely injured.

Then Shirou remembered, "Oh my god. Saber, where is she?"

Shirou began to search the entire compound that was his house. He checked room after room only to be met with a lack of a Servant. As he checked the living room, he spotted Link standing in the kitchen, a serious expression on his face and his left hand outstretched. Shirou relaxed slightly. One Servant down and apparently in good health.

"Hey, Link, have you seen Saber anywhere?" he asked. Link didn't answer right away.

The Servant lowered his hand and turned his gaze upon the stove. "I think she was in the dojo," he said, distractedly.

"Great, thanks," Shirou said, then he paused. "What are you doing? Is something wrong?"

"I'm trying," Link said slowly. "To get a feel for the energies of the room. This is a home to considerable excitement and creative energy."

Shirou blinked in confusion and decided to leave the Servant to whatever he was doing. He made his way to the practice dojo and entered the building. As he entered, he saw Saber, kneeling on the ground in the center of the practice arena.

She was wearing a long sleeved, white shirt with a blue ribbon tied at the neck. She wore a matching blue skirt and black stockings. Her eyes were closed in rest and, for the first time since he'd seen her, Saber looked at peace.

Shirou simply stood there for a moment, unable to move or speak. Then Saber opened her eyes and turned to face him.

"I see you're up and around," she commented, rising to her feet.

"Yeah, I just woke up a few minutes ago."

Saber walked forward until she was right in front of Shirou. "You still don't look as if you're entirely well to me."

Shirou took an uncomfortable step back and said, "Yeah, w-well I'm sure I'll heal up fast."

"That's good to hear," Saber said. "And now that you're feeling better, we should discuss the events that transpired last night."

"Okay," Shirou said.

"I would prefer that my Master to not do what you did last night," Saber said. Shirou looked at her in shock. "Combat is mine and Link's area of expertise. I'd prefer if you focused on the areas in which you excel. As my Master you have no need to try and protect me. There is nothing to be gained from it."

Anger flashed through Shirou like lightning. "You're telling me there's nothing to be gained from helping somebody?" Saber's eyes went wide with surprise, possibly at the heat in Shirou's reply. Shirou's anger disappeared and he said, "Hey, let's just move on to something else, okay?"

"Very well," Saber said. "We should find Link and discuss our plans for the war."

Shirou and Saber entered the dining room to find ingredients, kitchen utensils, and other odd instruments dancing around the kitchen. Link stood at the epicenter of the controlled chaos, wearing a facial expression of such calm and serenity that Shirou had thought could only ever exist on the face of a zen monk.

A mechanical beetle buzzed in the air, holding one of Shirou's teapots in its claws. The pot was being heated by a rod blazing with fire sitting balanced upright on the floor.

Link's arms were a blur of motion as he cut, chopped, sliced, and shredded a wide variety of ingredients that used to be in the fridge and various cabinets in the kitchen. Every possible surface was covered with completed or nearly completed dishes across the culinary spectrum. Shirou suspected Sakura was going to die of fright the next time she showed up to cook. Fuji-nee was probably going to die of shock at the variety of options that would be available for the next day or two, even with her appetite.

"What the hell?" Shirou asked. Link glanced up at Shirou and idly caught a knife that was spinning down to the counter between two of his fingers.

"Oh, you're here," he said. He glanced at all of the dishes he had prepared. "Hungry?" he asked. "I'm not sure if there's enough space in your fridge for all of this."

"How did you?" Shirou asked.

Link shrugged. "Well it occured to me that all of my battle instincts were intact during our fight with Berserker last night. And I've always had a talent for cooking. So I was wondering if the knowledge the Grail provided went that deep. I knew I'd instinctively be able to operate vehicles with my Riding skill, so I wondered if my skill at cooking would embrace the modern technology you have, and it all kind of snowballed after that."

"I was gone for, like, 10 minutes," he said.

"I work fast," Link answered.

Shirou examined the collection of dishes, his stomach rumbling with hunger at the mere sight of the food, not to mention the smell. It smelled almost as good as his own cooking. He was so surprised he forgot to be annoyed that Link seemed to have invaded one of his favorite places.

Link flicked a hand and the beetle carried the teapot to the table, deposited it, then zoomed over to Link with the rod. He caught both and placed them in a satchel at his side.

"Nice to see you're doing better," Link told Saber. "Sorry I wasn't much help at the end. While I enjoy the occasional game of ping-pong with a mad sorcerer, I generally don't like being the _ball._ "

"That is fine, Link," Saber said. "We need to discuss our plans for the war, and it seems like a waste not to partake of the meals you've prepared."

Link flashed her a grin. "Sure thing." He set out a pair of dishes, some plates, and cups for the tea. "You tell her about Tohsaka yet?" he asked Shirou.

"Rin?" Saber asked.

"Oh, uh," Shirou said. "She asked if we were willing to work together, at least until Berserker was taken care of and we had a better idea of what the other Masters were doing. I didn't see a problem in saying yes."

Saber was silent for a moment. "I agree that Rin would make a good ally in the conflict to come, but I would've appreciated it if you had discussed it with us first. But, it is your decision, Master."

"No, wait, I'm sorry," Shirou stammered. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just not used to this whole war thing yet."

"Relax, kid," Link said. "Just remember us the next time you're making a long term choice like that."

"Right," Shirou said. He settled himself at the table. "So, the war."

"It would probably be best to make sure that you understand the finer details of the Servants you'll encounter," Link said.

"We Servants are heroic spirits," Saber explained. "But that fame has a price. Revealing our true identities also reveals all of our vulnerabilities."

Shirou took a drink of his tea. "That's why you're called Saber instead. To hide your real name from enemies."

"That's right. Traditionally, seven Servants are summoned by the Holy Grail. Each one is selected by the class of warrior they are."

"Class of warrior? Like swordsmen or bowmen, you mean?"

"Correct. Before the Grail war starts, the Grail ordinarily prepares seven vessels and only heroic spirits that are a match to those vessels are summoned. These are the seven classes: Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker."

"Oh, I get it now. You were a hero extremely proficient with a sword, so you were summoned to this time as a Saber."

"Yes, you are correct, but that is also the Saber class' shortcoming."

"What do you mean?"

"For example, when facing an opponent skilled in close quarters combat, how would you fight against them?"

"If I couldn't defeat them by attacking them head-on," Shirou said. Then he realized the answer. "I wouldn't try to attack them directly."

"Yes, exactly." Saber said. "We also have skills called Noble Phantasms. Lancer's spear, Archer's bow, and my sword are all examples of Noble Phantasms. These powers are the secret weapons of a Servant. However, a significant amount of mana is required to activate them."

"In other words, you simply can't activate them any time you want," Shirou said.

"That's correct," Saber confirmed. "What's more, we must call out the true name of the Noble Phantasm when activating it. So a Servant always runs the risk of giving away their identity."

"Well…" Link said, drawing out the word. "That's not entirely true. At least for me. Some Phantasms cost less than others. I know that I, at least, have a passive Noble Phantasm, one that runs at all times.

"Also keep in mind that a Noble Phantasm need not be attached to a single object. A Servant's Phantasm is the crystallization of their legend, which can be spread out across multiple objects or methods of fighting. Many Servants, however, are as Saber describes."

"Is that why you keep your sword invisible?" Shirou asked Saber.

"Yes," she answered. The Servant looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Shirou, I have a favor to ask of you regarding that. It is about my true name. A Servant normally reveals their true identity to their Master so that a strategy might be formed. The problem here is, you're unskilled as a mage. There is a chance a skilled mage might be able to clearly read your thoughts. And so I…"

Shirou smiled in understanding. "You can't reveal your true name to me," he said. Saber just nodded, still looking guilty. "It's okay," Shirou said. "I'll leave the use of your Noble Phantasm to your complete discretion, okay?"

Saber looked up at Shirou, awe in her jade eyes. Link smiled as well.

"I think I have an idea that might confuse some of the Masters," he said. "Shirou Emiya, I am Link of Hyrule. Hero of many times, and champion of many worlds. Summoned as Saber, but claimant to all classes." The man grinned again. "I'd love to see them try and figure that out."

"What did all that mean?" Shirou asked. Saber gave Link a curious look as well.

"Now, it's my turn to speak," Link said. "As Saber told you, the Grail prepares seven vessels for the war. But, for some reason, it has prepared 14 vessels instead. Two for each class of Servant. Unlike Saber or Lancer or any of the other primary Servants, we secondary Servants all appear to come from other worlds.

"I'm not at all sure I'm recognizable to _any_ of the primary Servants or even most of the Masters. I'm probably recognizable to the secondary Servants if I give myself away, but I also have the advantage of being a reincarnating hero."

"A reincarnating hero?" Shirou asked. Saber blinked in realization.

"You're saying you've lived many times? And you've been a hero of note every time?"

Link nodded. "So if any mage takes a peek in our Master's mind, they'll know my name and _think_ they've learned something. But the problem will be that they'll learn so much that they won't be able to anticipate what I can actually do. I've done _everything_ at one point or another."

"Huh," Shirou said. "That's handy."

"Could you recognize any of the other secondary Servants?" Saber asked. "Like I did with Lancer once he used his Phantasm?"

Link nodded. "Probably, as long as they revealed themselves in a similar manner as Lancer did. We know one already from Rin's Caster: Ghost Rider. He seems to know more about him than I do, though."

"But right now everyone seems to be keeping their secondary Servants in reserve," Shirou said.

"So we will need to be more on guard for the unexpected," Saber said.

Shirou suddenly realized what'd been bothering him since he'd found Saber in the dojo. "Wait a minute, where'd you get those clothes from?"

"Rin gave me these clothes to wear," Saber explained. "I need to blend in, since I can't dematerialize."

"Interesting," Shirou said, more to himself than to the Servants in the room. "So she likes prim and proper outfits."

Then they set into the food Link had prepared.

 **Author's note: Long chapter today, but exposition bombs tend to do that. Not a lot to say about the chapter itself. Pretty self-explanatory, I think. :)**

 **The secondary Servant profiles are up on my personal profile, although Fanfiction seems to have a thing against plus marks, so they aren't all** _ **quite**_ **as 100% accurate as they could be. Any skill that I or Warden Myst personally created has been given a description of what it means as well as what the rank indicates. Any Nasuverse skill will have to be looked up unless you guys really want me to add the descriptions in (which I'm willing to do if you want).**

 **Diaspared: Thank you so much for the review. You've been following this story for a long time, and don't think I didn't notice. I'm so happy that you're still enjoying yourself. It means a lot to me. Thank you.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if want the discussion to be less public.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 _Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful. But he was born into an unforgiving world._ \- Salem, RWBY

"I'm sorry," Shirou said to Saber as they ate the food. "I know you guys are supposed to be replenished by your Master, but I can't because I'm a novice."

"I can minimize my mana needs by going to sleep from time to time," Saber said.

"And I'm somehow getting a satisfactory flow of mana from you," Link added.

Before Shirou could answer, there was a knock on the front door. He excused himself and opened the front door to find Rin Tohsaka, in the same clothes as when she left but with the addition of a red leather jacket of a similar design to her Servant's, and Harry standing there with boxes and suitcases and a doorway of light closing behind them.

"So, did we miss anything?" Rin asked and she walked past him, starting to take her shoes off in the foyer.

"What are you doing here?" Shirou exclaimed in complete surprise.

"Staying here," Rin answered. "You did say it was okay if we stayed together."

"I-I didn't mean like this!" Shirou said.

"Oh calm down, Emiya," Rin said. "This is more effective and you know it. Caster will be able to add another layer of defense to the house once he sets up a workshop." Rin pointed to the guest house on one end of the property. "We'll set up in there so anything Caster needs to do won't disturb you or the sabers."

"Would you please stop calling me Caster? And, why am I the one schlepping all of this crap again?" Harry asked as Rin set her shoes aside.

"Because I'm the Master and I need to discuss strategy with my partner," Rin said, loftily.

"Uh, that's bullshit, and we both know it," Harry bluntly answered.

"Then I guess it's just an unfair world, Caster. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it." Then she shut the door.

Shirou could _feel_ the glare Harry sent her way. "'I guess it's an unfair world,'" Harry said in a nasal impression of Rin's voice. "Well fine then." Shirou wasn't sure if Harry knew, or even cared, that Rin could still hear his voice through the door. " _ **Summer Knight**_ _,_ " Harry declared and Shirou felt a ripple of power through the air.

Rin slapped her hand to her face in frustration. "Emiya," she growled through her fingers. "Did Caster just use his _Noble Phantasm_ to unpack our supplies?"

"Uuummm…" Shirou said, not at all sure what the correct answer was.

"I swear he can be so childish sometimes," she complained and stormed past him toward the dining room.

Rin stepped into the dining room and blinked in surprise at the collection of food Link had made.

"Wow, your Servants work fast," she commented and sat down at the table.

"I was bored," Link answered.

"Okay, Emiya," Rin said. "We'll need to discuss our plans for the war." Shirou sat down as well as Rin continued. "First, I feel I should be clear that this alliance is only until we take care of Berserker and Ghost Rider. I can't picture any scenario where we won't have to take both down at the same time."

"Okay," Shirou said. Rin gave him a look.

"That means we're still enemies, Emiya," she stressed. "Once Berserker and Ghost Rider are gone, we'll have no reason to work together and we'll have to deal with each other eventually."

"Alright, I got it. Once they're gone we're quits," Shirou said. Rin narrowed her eyes, but let the matter drop.

"Then the second matter we need to discuss is what we're going to do during the day. Masters don't fight each other in public, but that doesn't mean that an opportunity won't present itself during school or if we're out somewhere."

"We can't skip school," Shirou told her. Rin raised an eyebrow. Shirou shrugged. "What? Do you think Fuji-nee's just going to stand there and let us skip school for who knows how long?"

"Miss Fujimura can be dealt with," Rin said, waving a dismissive hand. The dining room door flew open and Harry stuck his head in.

"We are _not_ rewriting people's brains unless it is _absolutely_ necessary," he said, firmly.

"It's harmless hypnosis," Rin said. "It wouldn't even-"

"Not only no, but _hell no,_ " Harry said. "Trust me, Rin. Rewriting brains causes far more trouble than it's worth." Then he pulled his head out of the room and shut the door before she could reply.

"Uh, I'm inclined to agree with Harry," Shirou said. "I think messing with the English teacher's head is a bad idea."

Rin rolled her eyes but capitulated.

"Then I guess we'll still go to school," she said. "If only to keep problems under control. That just leaves our living situation to deal with. Since I'm going to be staying here, I feel it's only appropriate that I help with maintaining the home."

Shirou opened his mouth to talk about that, but the phone rang. He sighed and left the dining room.

Shirou picked up the phone, the caller ID saying the call was coming from his high school's archery dojo.

"Good morning," he said, tiredly. "Emiya residence."

"Hi there, Shirou!" came an overly enthusiastic voice. "Fujimura here!"

"Fuji-nee? What do you want? I'm a little busy now."

"So am I! That's why I'm calling! I've decided to give up my day off to watch over my students while they're practicing! Here's your mission: Pack up a nice lunch for me and deliver it to the archery dojo ASAP! Now move!" Then the line disconnected.

Shirou sighed, went back into the dining room and explained his errand to everyone.

"You shouldn't go alone," came Link and Saber's immediate reply.

"Look, Masters are supposed to avoid attracting attention, right? Something like last night isn't gonna happen."

"True," Saber said. "But the unexpected sometimes happens. It is not safe for you to walk outside unescorted."

"But both of us don't have to go, either," Link said. "How about I stay here and keep an eye on Rin and Harry while you take Shirou to school? You'll blend in far better than I will anyway." Link tapped his pointed ears for emphasis. "If you need me for something, he can use a Command Seal. And I want to explore the house and neighborhood anyway. Fair?"

"That's agreeable," Saber said.

"Do I get a say in this?" Shirou asked.

"Not really," Link told him.

Shirou threw on a dark hoodie and Saber added a white coat and some boots to her ensemble and they left, a handful of the meals Link had prepared packed away in a carrying case. This was Taiga, after all.

As they approached the school, Shirou told Saber: "If someone tries talking to you, I just want you to shake your head and not say anything. It'd be best if you acted like you didn't understand our language at all."

Saber suddenly grew attentive as they walked down the campus. "What's wrong?" Shirou asked.

"I can sense mana residue here," Saber reported. "Something seems a bit off, but it doesn't seem to pose any danger."

"You see. I said it was perfectly safe didn't I?"

Saber waited outside while Shirou entered the archery dojo. He almost walked into Sakura as he did. The girl simply stood there, looking shocked as Shirou lifted the box and spoke.

"Hey. Don't mind me. I brought some lunch for Fuji-nee. Could, uh, you please tell her that I'm here with it?"

Sakura leaned to one side, as if trying to look past him. Then she snapped back to reality and said, "Oh, uh, sure." Then she hurried off.

Mitsuzuri walked to the foyer and said, "Boy, you're our savior. I heard that you brought her some lunch. Miss Fujimura's been a real handful, she gets high strung when she's hungry."

Shirou sat down on a raised portion of the floor. "Why didn't you check first thing in the morning to see if Fuji-nee had brought her lunch with her?"

"Well, I guess I was really tired today," Mitsuzuri said with a laugh.

"Is it Shinji again? Where is he anyway?"

"Playing hooky. Busy with a new girlfriend I suppose." Mitsuzuri suddenly grew excited. "Okay, now spill it, Emiya. Who was that woman who was with you out front? She was gorgeous! Friend of yours?"

"Um, I guess you could say that it's kind of complicated," Shirou answered. Then his eyes went wide and he felt some color drain from his face. "Was?" he asked and looked toward the open doorway.

Saber was suspiciously missing from her post outside. Shirou lurched to his feet in alarm and hurried to go looking for her, shouting an apologetic goodbye to Mitsuzuri.

He ran into the main building, the most likely place for Saber to have gone and quickly found her standing in the hallway past the lockers staring at their ethics teacher, Mr. Kuzuki.

Kuzuki was a tall man with dark hair and glasses over his dark and detached eyes. He was wearing, as always, a green suit jacket and slacks over a white, button down shirt and green tie.

"Mr. Kuzuki!" Shirou called and quickly stood in front of Saber with his arms outstretched, panting from his run.

"Emiya," his teacher said. It was always amazing at how much Kuzuki could put into as few words as possible. The statement managed to be a greeting, an interrogative, and a declaration for honesty.

"Uh," Shirou said, thinking quickly. "She's an acquaintance of mine from overseas. I'm giving her a tour of the school."

"We've never had a foreign student attend this school," Mr. Kuzuki replied evenly. Then he turned away. "If she enrolls here, she will be a curiosity. Take care. If she is a friend, keep an eye on her." He started to walk away.

"Uh, yes, sir," Shirou said, letting out a breath.

Kuzuki stopped walking. "Incidentally, Emiya." He turned to regard Saber. "Outdoor shoes are forbidden inside." Then he left.

Shirou immediately took Saber to the visitor's lounge in order to change her shoes. Saber adjusted her stance, getting a feel for the new footwear while Shirou sat down.

"Shirou, about that instructor we just ran into."

"Did you sense something about Mr. Kuzuki?"

"Not really," Saber admitted. "But at first he struck me as being more than he seemed. I do not believe he is a mage, no blood smell."

"I'd be really shocked if Mr. Kuzuki turned out to be a mage," Shirou said. "But what do mean he struck you as more than he seemed?"

"His breathing was exceedingly natural and fully composed," Saber explained. "Quite frankly I was rather impressed with him. Even his walking was efficient. His students must be put at ease with a man such as him as their teacher." Saber suddenly brightened. "So then, shall we go to the next location?"

"Wait a minute, you want to go around the whole school?" Shirou asked.

"Yes," Saber declared. "To make sure it is safe."

At a loss for anything else to do, Shirou began to give Saber a tour, showing her the various club rooms and facilities.

As Shirou was walking her past a classroom, a tall, athletic, redheaded girl stepped out of the room and nearly ran into Shirou.

The girl had bright, almost glowing, green eyes and her hair was a vibrant red color and fell to her mid back in a ponytail. She wore a brown jacket with a grey hood over an off white shirt, a red, pleated skirt that fell to her mid-thighs, grey leggings, and tall, dark boots that rose to her mid calf. She also wore a bronze colored circlet on her head, a pair of thin chains looping down and back almost like earrings. Each chain had a green gem dangling from it under her ears.

There was a stunned moment where no one moved, then Saber grabbed Shirou by the hand and forced him away from the girl saying, "Shirou, get back!"

At the same instant, the girl threw her hands up and said, "I'm sorry, wait! Please don't hurt me!"

"Woah, Saber!" Shirou said. "What's going on?"

"Stay back, Shirou," Saber repeated. She hadn't materialized her armor or sword, but her stance had shifted into something wider, ready to fight. "She's a Servant."

"What?" Shirou asked and examined the girl more closely. It was subtle, but Shirou could see how the girl's own stance had instinctively become more like Saber's. And when nothing was happening, he thought he could see what Saber had been referring to with Mr. Kuzuki.

The redhead's breathing was regular and highly controlled, not panting with fear like she was pretending to feel. As she adjusted her position, her movements were careful, as if she knew she were capable of shattering stone with her hands and was trying not to with an errant gesture.

"A Servant? Here?" Shirou asked. The girl let out a sigh.

"So much for normal," she said dejectedly. She lowered her hands and stood there, looking vulnerable and very alone.

Shirou laid a hand on Saber's shoulder. "Calm down, Saber," he said. "It's the middle of the day and if she wanted to fight, she could've just attacked." He turned his attention to the redhead. "What's your name?" he asked.

The girl, who, like Saber, didn't look much older than Shirou himself, hesitated for a moment. "L-" she said and then stopped. "My name's Pyrrha."

Shirou smiled. "That's a pretty name. My name's Shirou."

Pyrrha turned bright red. "Now I see why," she said, holding back a giggle. She held out her hand and Shirou took it, though cautiously. Then she turned to Saber and extended her hand again. "It's nice to meet you, Saber."

Saber looked torn about something as she cautiously took Pyrrha's hand. "Since you have named yourself," Saber said. "I am bound by my code as a knight to name myself in turn."

"Saber?" Shirou asked. "But-" Pyrrha raised a hand.

"I think it would be best if you don't," she told Saber. "I didn't mean to obligate you. I, personally, don't care for these titles or this war. But there are others who might be watching who do. I don't want to cause you harm by forcing you to tip your hand."

Saber looked grateful.

"Why are you here if you don't want to fight?" Shirou asked.

Pyrrha shook her head. "The Grail chooses its Masters, regardless if they believe they want the position or not, and then the appropriate number of Servants are summoned. Every Servant who is summoned has a reason to be here, but that reason isn't always to win the Grail." She met Shirou's eyes. "My Master and I simply want to protect those we love. If that means I have to fight, then I will fight without hesitation."

That hung in the air for a moment, before Saber spoke up.

"Pyrrha," she said with difficulty. Saber must have been having trouble with the idea of naming the Servant so openly and casually. "If I may ask, what are you doing here then?"

Pyrrha turned at looked wistfully at the classroom she had exited. "I never got to have a normal life," she said. "I just wanted to get a look at what it was like, without the threat of _them_ overshadowing everything." Her eyes grew distant, as if she was looking at something only she could see. "I wish I'd done things differently," she said. Then she faced Shirou and Saber again. "I wish you the best of luck," she told them. "Maybe, before this war ends, we can talk again." Then she faded away into her astral form.

Shirou and Saber exchanged glances. "Are all the Servants like this?" he asked.

Saber looked troubled as she said, "I think all the secondary Servants are going to be… interesting."

* * *

Saber was waiting outside while Shirou was changing back into his outdoor shoes when Mitsuzuri found him.

"Emiya, is that you?" she asked. "What are you still doing at school?"

"You guys all done?" Shirou asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna wrap up early today."

"Okay then. See ya later." Shirou raised his hand and turned to leave. He was several steps away when Mitsuzuri spoke up.

"Hey, Emiya? Will you ever come back to the archery club?" Shirou turned to face her. "It sounds like Miss Fujimura is trying hard to talk you into it. So where do you stand?"

"Well," he said. "I'm thinking of givin' it another shot once I get a few things sorted out."

"You are? That's surprising."

"Why's that?"

"From the minute you joined, you were so good it was scary. But, it always seemed like you didn't care about hitting the target. Or, maybe you didn't have the desire to _want_ to hit it. I just assumed you quit because you got bored with it all. It's almost like you don't have any desire for anything these days."

"Really?"

"I'm not saying you should be like Shinji, but why don't you try to have some fun?"

Shirou was silent for a moment before scratching his head with his hand. "Oh, this is great. It must be pretty bad if I'm getting pity from a classmate."

"I mean, come on, Emiya," Mitsuzuri said kindly. "You never smile." Memories loomed over Shirou. Darkness and heat. Screams and pain. Mitsuzuri smiled and leaned forward with excitement, not seeming to notice the haunted look that crossed Shirou's face. "Remember that time in training camp? When we were all being rowdy and telling jokes? You were the _one_ person who wasn't laughing at my best material."

"Oh," Shirou said, dully.

"I'm still holding a grudge, you know," she told him before holding up a hand and spinning a ring of keys around her finger. "Well, I need to go to the faculty room now. So, I'll see you tomorrow!"

* * *

 **Author's note: Not an action-heavy chapter, but one I'm rather fond and proud of. I've always loved the scene between Shirou and Mitsuzuri in UBW. Ayako is such a wonderful character, and really is someone to admire as a friend. Plus, getting to write Pyrrha in this setting was its own pleasure. I really sat down and thought about what her views on the Grail war would be, and I feel I've lived up to her character. Her regrets and desires feel very real to me and I hope those came across well in her meeting with Shirou.**

 **As a side note: Hey, Pyrrha's in this story! Considering that my other fics are for RWBY, I don't feel like this should be all that surprising (assuming you know the show, of course). Granted, Pyrrha's been involved in the events of this story for a while already and her role will only continue to progress. But, more on that later.**

 **Reishin Amara: I think Rin is going to be more worried about her** _ **own**_ **Servant's connection to Heaven and Hell. :)**

 **Dovakiin Shadow: My understanding of the Ruler is that their presence is only optional outside of a Grand War. They** _ **can**_ **be summoned, but they aren't necessarily needed. In this particular case, there is no clear political element involved in the distribution of the Servants. The Grail itself chose to call on the Second Sorcery, so it might not have seen a need for a specially designated arbiter. (Plus, I started this story before I saw Fate/Apocrypha, so the thought of using a Ruler didn't occur to me) I like that you're thinking about this, though. Thank you.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if want the discussion to be less public.**

 **P.S. For the Dresden fans in the crowd: Yes, that use of his Noble Phantasm** _ **will**_ **be coming back up. I hope you all get a giggle out of it.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 _If you rile a tiger, he's going to show his claws._ \- Rob James-Collier

The problems started when Shirou was walking home. He'd set out for home with Sakura and Fuji-nee, Saber walking behind them at a respectful distance after his discussion with Mitsuzuri.

"What is this?" Fuji-nee asked, her voice suspicious. "She's been following us since we left."

"How did you two meet?" Sakura asked. "Do you know her very well?"

"Yeah," Shirou answered. "My old man knew her."

"She's a friend of Kiritsugu?" Taiga asked, sounding surprised. "So she came to see him? To visit Kiritsugu, I mean?"

"Yeah," Shirou said, leaping on the opportunity for a believable lie. "That's right. She'll be living at my place for a while, so be nice to her."

Taiga "Tiger" Fujimura was in front of Shirou and holding him by his shirt so fast that it probably qualified her for Servant status all by itself.

"What?!" Fuji-nee and Sakura exclaimed.

" 'Living at my place'?! As in you two are shacking up?!" Fujimura demanded.

"We're not shacking up!" Shirou defended. "It's just temporary. Saber will only be staying here for a little while."

Sakura pressed in, looking oddly nervous. "Wait a minute, did you just call her Saber?"

"Yeah, and I'd really appreciate it if you could be friends with her," Shirou said.

Sakura rocked back in surprise and said, "Sure, I suppose I could do that." Then she turned to face Fuji-nee. "Hey, Miss Fujimura? Are you going to give Shirou permission to have Saber stay at the house?"

"Hmmm." Fujimura thought about it for a moment, releasing her death grip on her ward. "As a teacher I'd have to say absolutely not. But I can't just turn away a girl who came here to see Kiritsugu." She thought about it some more. Then she started walking again. "Okay, sure, why not? We'll just think of it as a homestay," she called back to them.

Shirou smiled and followed Fujimura while Sakura gasped in shock. Saber walked past the girl and gave her a polite bow and continued to follow Shirou. Sakura waited a long moment before hurrying to catch up.

* * *

Things only escalated when they got home. As they entered Shirou's property, Fuji-nee got distracted by something and hung back for a moment. This was why Sakura was the first one to see Rin.

"Hello there," Rin said.

"What are you doing here, Miss Tohsaka?" Sakura asked.

"Um, yeah," Shirou said awkwardly. "It's kind of a long story."

"I'm going to be staying here for a while," Rin answered. Sakura inhaled sharply and something flashed in her eyes.

"Yeah, you see," Shirou said, awkwardly. "Certain events have transpired and I thought it might be best if Tohsaka-"

"This is something Shirou and I decided together," Rin said, cutting off Shirou's explanation. "It's kind of irreversible now. Do you understand what I'm saying Miss Matou?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't understand," Sakura replied, her voice shaking with emotion. Sadness and… something else?

"I'm trying to tell you that Shirou no longer needs you to look after him. Visits from you will just be an intrusion. It's in your best interest to stay away."

"I don't believe you," Sakura said, with more anger in her tone than Shirou had ever heard before. Rin looked just as surprised as Shirou felt. "What Miss Tohsaka is saying just doesn't make sense to me." Then she went into the house toward the kitchen.

Shirou suddenly remembered that all of the ingredients in the house had been used by Link. "Uh, Saber?" he asked, thinking quickly. "Maybe you should help Sakura understand what your, uh, brother did in the kitchen."

Saber blinked in confusion before she got it and hurried off.

"Well that was crazy," Shirou said. "I don't think I've ever heard Sakura snap back like that."

"The chances of this house becoming a battleground are incredibly high," Rin said. "All I was trying to do was warn her that it was best to avoid this place."

"Oh, was that what you were trying to do? Here I was thinking you were just being mean."

Rin gave him a glare just as the door opened again and Taiga finally entered.

"Shirou!" she called. "When's dinner going to be ready?" Then she looked at Rin. "Miss Tohsaka? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, well," Shirou answered. "She's going to be staying here for a little while too."

"Another boarder, huh? I guess that makes sense, there's plenty of room." Shirou breathed a sigh of relief. Given how she'd reacted to Saber staying, he'd assumed Rin's presence would have had a similar reaction.

That relief didn't last long as they sat down at the table to some of the food Link had prepared earlier. Sakura didn't seem upset about the food so Saber must have given her an explanation that satisfied her.

Shirou could tell when the objection was coming because Fuji-nee suddenly stiffened and her gaze moved from Saber to Rin.

"Hold on!" she shouted, rising and slamming her hand onto the table. Shirou sighed in defeat. "You're telling me you're bringing another girl in here?! First you bring home a near stranger and now a classmate? What is this, some kind of harem anime you've got going on here?" Taiga reached over the table and grabbed Shirou by the shirt and proceeded to rant and rave while shaking him like a rag doll.

"Uh, Miss Fujimura," Sakura said. "I think you've made your point."

Taiga calmed down slightly, but continued to rant and lecture.

"I'd be happy to help out if you want," Rin said, her expression smug with the knowledge that she could get Shirou out of the hole he'd been dug into.

"Yes, please," Shirou said. "Someone with diplomacy would be a big help."

"As you wish," Rin said, setting down her bowl. "Stand back and let me show you how it's done." Then she fixed Taiga with a glare.

The teacher sensed the attention and immediately turned to face Rin. "Go ahead, glare all you want missy," Taiga said in the exact same tone of voice she'd been using with Shirou, throwing him across the width room without any apparent effort. "You don't scare me. As a teacher, I won't tolerate a male and female student sharing a house together!" She slammed her hands on the table for emphasis.

"I understand," Rin said in a calm and rational voice, "but the fact is, my house is undergoing a complete renovation right now. I had thought about living out of a hotel while the construction was being done, but when I mentioned my situation to Emiya he was kind enough to offer me a place here."

"Well, that does sound like something Shirou would do," Fujimura admitted.

"Living out of a hotel is such a waste money, not to mention incredibly inappropriate for a student. When two students stay together there's also a greater chance to help each other in their studies."

"I understand your situation," Fujimura replied, her tone less angry now but still insistent. "However, it's not right for a young man and woman of no relation to live under the same roof."

"Emiya and Saber are planning to live under the same roof, and that doesn't seem to present any sort of problem. Or perhaps you're suggesting that Emiya is the kind of person that would make unwelcome advances towards me."

"Don't be rude!" Fujimura said. "Shirou is a fine young man! He'd never dream of doing anything unseemly to another girl."

Rin smiled. "Then we don't have a problem," she declared. "I too have the utmost faith in Emiya."

Shirou was halfway through his sigh of relief at the look of confusion and defeat on Fuji-nee's face when the door opened and Harry walked in.

"Okay, the wards are in place and-"

"AAAHHH!" Taiga shrieked, whether it was in fear or outrage was really hard to tell, and shot to her feet. "Who the hell are you?!"

Harry's eyes flicked to Rin, who gave him a nearly imperceptible shrug.

The wizard sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers, and said, "My apologies, Miss Fujimura, right? I see _Rin_ forgot to mention me. I'm an old friend of her father's." He held out his hand. "Harry Dresden. It's a pleasure."

Sakura inhaled quickly, but Dresden didn't seem to notice. Fujimura eyed Harry before taking his hand. It was obvious she was trying to crush his hand and it was equally obvious that Harry wasn't at all affected by her attempts at juvenile dominance.

"I'm sorry that Rin's causing mischief," Harry continued, earning a glare from his Master. "Her home situation is true, but even a girl like Rin knows that it's improper for a young man and woman to be put together suddenly. I was stopping by for business and to see my old friend's family. So, when Shirou made his offer, I agreed to act as a chaperone in case any possible problems arose." He gave Rin a look. "She promised that it wouldn't be a problem, but she's prone to bouts of teasing. I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm glad that there's a responsible adult here at least," Taiga said.

"That makes it the first time since dad died," Shirou commented. Fuji-nee turned her gaze on Shirou. Her gaze reflected that of the fearsome creature which she was nicknamed and Shirou laughed awkwardly to hide the sudden terror he felt.

His teacher moved to him and gripped his arm to help him up from his position on the floor. That was the second that Link entered the room as well.

Taiga heard the door open again and turned to face the newcomer. She spun to face Shirou again, her eyes ablaze. Her grip adjusted and he felt himself leave the ground and fly across the room lengthwise this time. He hit the wall with surprising force and everything went dark.

Shirou came to a minute or so later with a knot on his head and to the sight of everyone sitting at the table enjoying the meal.

"What was that for?" Shirou asked, or tried to. What he actually said was: "Ooowww…"

"Well, it serves you right, Shirou," Fuji-nee said between bites of her food. "Inviting so many people over without any warning. Fortunately, Mr. Dresden has assured me that he will help keep a very close eye on everyone."

Shirou got to his feet. After a second's consideration, he decided against arguing. He was clearly outnumbered and things seemed to have been resolved while he took his imposed 60 second nap.

He walked back to his seat, slumped down, and started eating.

* * *

It was decided that Shirou should clean the dishes by himself. Concerns about storing Link's multitude of meals became a non-issue by the sheer number of people who had been eating that night, not to mention the voracious appetites of Tiga, Saber, and Link. Unfortunately, this also meant that Shirou had a mountain of plates and cutlery to wash and put away, all by himself.

Even Sakura refused to help, seeming oddly distant. Shirou grumbled under his breath as he performed his punishment.

Saber, Link, Fujimura, and Sakura all sat watching the TV, while Harry and Rin had retired early.

As Shirou finally was nearing completion of his chore, he glanced over his shoulder and called out: "Fuji-nee. It's getting late, could you walk Sakura home?" The teacher didn't turn around. "Fuji-nee?" Shirou asked, setting down the final plate and turning around. The four continued to watch the television. "Hello? Earth to Miss Fujimura? Are you ignoring me?"

"Sorry, request denied," came the bored reply. "I won't be able to walk Sakura home for awhile."

That knocked Shirou off guard. "Why is that?" he asked as Taiga turned off the television and stood up.

"Because, starting tonight, I'll be staying here too!" she replied with her usual cheer.

"What?" Shirou asked.

"Care to join me, Sakura? I can call your home to make sure it's okay with them so you don't have to worry."

"Oh, yes!" Sakura said, excitedly. "Thanks! I can always count on you, Miss Fujimura!"

"All right!" Fujimura cheered. "Let's use the big room at the back of the house! There's lots of futons. You don't mind, do you, Saber?"

The blonde Servant gave Shirou a questioning look. Shirou gave her a hopeless look and a shrug.

* * *

As Shirou and the others went down a hall toward the large room in question, Harry came up to them. "Shirou, Saber, I need to talk to you guys for a moment." He gave Taiga an apologetic smile and Link a nod before leading Shirou and Saber away.

He led them to one of the guest houses where he and Rin had staked claim, as Harry put it, in the name of Tohsaka and the Holy Grail.

He showed them into a room where a large table had been set up, a perfect, pewter scale replica of Fuyuki, New City, and a wide stretch of the surrounding area was laid out. Rin stood at one end, her hand extended and glowing with blue light.

"Bob," Harry said. "How's the model responding to Rin?"

"I'm standing right here, you know," Rin growled. Her face was twisted in a look of concentration.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "But you're busy, so I'm going to ask the skull who isn't pouring tons of energy into a dangerous magical device."

"The model's reacting beautifully," came another voice. Shirou noticed a bleached, human skull with orange eyelights in the empty eye sockets. "She could keep this spell running and probably still kick your ass if you weren't careful, boss."

"Noted," Harry said and gestured to Shirou and Saber. "Bob, meet Shirou and Saber. Shirou and Saber, meet Bob, my spiritual lab assistant. You two, don't ask about the skull, Bob, keep your non-helpful thoughts to yourself. We're on the clock." He walked around the table until he was beside Rin. "Bob, give me a mark when we should swap so that Rin can do the talking. Lash, I want you to help me get a look at what we're dealing with here. Ready, Rin?"

"Ready," Rin replied.

"Now," the skull said. Rin stepped back at the exact second Harry stepped forward and raised his own hand, speaking a series of phrases that sounded like latin.

Rin let out a breath. "That should help," she said and then faced Shirou and Saber.

"What's going on?" Shirou asked.

"You're watching the first ever battle between two Caster class servants," Rin answered.

"Battle?" Saber asked. Rin nodded.

"But he's just standing there," Shirou said.

"The model is more than just a model," the skull answered. "It's a thaumaturgical duplicate of the entire area. It's a focus that allows anyone with the right skills and power to affect the model and recreate that effect in the actual city itself."

"That's possible?" Shirou asked, amazed.

"According to Harry, it's something he's good at," Rin said.

"So, what is happening?" Saber asked.

"I've been pouring energy into the model to help give Harry more power to work with. He can't risk the thunderstorm again," Rin said. She looked at Shirou. "You've heard about the gas leaks all over New City, right? They're not actually gas leaks. Caster, the other one, is the one who is behind it."

"Caster?" Saber asked.

"Sure thing, cupcake," the skull, Bob, said. "There's a massive flow of energy being pulled toward the temple by the mountains. The only kind of person who could do that on a larger scale would be a practitioner. So, Caster."

"And what's Harry doing?" Shirou asked, instinctively laying a hand on Saber's shoulder to cut off her indignant reply at being called 'cupcake'.

"He's using his own power to interrupt the flow of energy and counter attack," Rin said. Shirou glanced at Harry and saw sweat running down his forehead. The wizard flashed a smile and said, to apparently no one: "Got you now, bitch. It's not so fun when someone else steps in on your fun, is it?"

There were sudden flashes and Shirou noticed there were streams and flashes of light surrounding an office building.

"Is that?" Shirou asked.

"The battle," Rin answered. "This is on a completely new level, even for me. This is a battle made completely from will and imagination. The prerogative of the Caster."

"Why did you call us here, if everything is underway and we cannot help?" Saber asked.

"We wanted to let you know the situation," Rin answered. "And to tell you that we're seriously considering shutting down Caster soon. Once we get an idea of what their defenses are like and which secondary Servant is there for support."

"We could go now," Saber suggested. "If Caster is being kept busy, then this is as good a time as any to strike."

"Absolutely not," Shirou said. "Saber, you're not even fully healed yet from the fight with Berserker."

"As long as my head is still attached, I can still fight." Saber replied.

"No, it's too risky," Shirou said.

"It's smarter to engage while we have the element of surprise," Saber countered.

"Are you trying to get us both killed?" Shirou demanded. "Because I'd like to avoid nearly dying again if you don't mind."

The air suddenly grew cold around them and everyone turned to see Harry gritting his teeth.

"Trying to work here," he growled.

"Sorry," Shirou said, in a tone that declared the conversation was finished. Then he left.

"He really is an odd one, isn't he?" Rin asked.

"He's naive," Saber said.

"He's still thinking of the Servants as people," Rin said. "The same with the other Masters. This war is going to tear him apart if he keeps it up."

* * *

 **Author's note: Oh Taiga, the shenanigans you prompt. One of the joys of writing this story is the ability to find reasons to have the Taiga freakouts from** _ **both**_ **anime working together. Yes Shirou, you deserved to clean those plates by yourself. :D**

 **Pretty straightforward chapter all-in-all. Some shenanigans, some subtle plot, Bob.**

 **Also, side note, HOLY CRAP! The view count's been doing fairly well. I'm so happy that so many people are enjoying this story. Like, I can't describe how awesome that is.**

 **Grim Slayer Reaper: To quote Brandon Sanderson: "Plots behind plots. Plans beyond plans. There's always another secret." -evil smile-**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if want the discussion to be less public.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 _Good wishes alone will not ensure peace._ \- Alfred Nobel

The hill was deserted, and the sky dark with a blanket of deep, dark clouds. A sky that spoke of potential malice, of possible violence. But even as he watched, the sky began to lighten with the brightness of day.

The sound of hoofbeats came through the still air and the light of the sun reflected off of the army of men. They stood in a great half circle, watching silently.

Saber stood away from them, her armor and gown rippling in the wind. Her sword, uncovered, was set before her, her hands resting on the pommel like it was a staff. Her gaze was turned outward, looking upon something that perhaps only she could see.

* * *

Shirou awoke in the shed to the sound of wood clashing upon wood. He hadn't been able to sleep after the argument with Saber the previous night, and had eventually gone to the shed to practice his own magecraft and clear his head.

The display he'd seen from Harry last night had been absolutely incredible. The ability to affect and fight within the city without dragging people into the conflict. It was a method of conflict he could actually approve of.

But, it was beyond his reach. He couldn't even reinforce that well, so running something as clearly complicated as the model was going to be a very, very long time coming.

He rose and moved to investigate the sounds of conflict. The sounds drew him toward the kendo dojo. Shirou was rather surprised to see Taiga and Link swinging the wooden weapons at each other with ferocious intensity. He was even more surprised to see the look of intense aggravation on the fifth degree kendo master's face.

She swung her sword at him again and Link intercepted the blow with apparent ease.

"Good," Link said. "You're getting better." Link backed away as Taiga's eye began to twitch. "Careful," Link said, holding his sword behind his back. "You're letting your frustration get the better of you."

Taiga let out a howl and surged forward, swinging powerfully. Link smirked and waited until the last second before swinging his own weapon in a fast strike of his own. Taiga's weapon clattered to the ground and she held her hand in obvious pain.

Link bounced his sword on his shoulder. "You okay?" he asked, dropping his confidence for a moment. Taiga suddenly shot forward, pulling a sword hidden in her clothes and throwing a quick swing at Link.

The Servant moved with the blow, the wood barely missing him as he spun and slapped the back of Taiga with the flat of his own weapon. She yelped in pain and spun to face Link again when she spotted Shirou.

"Shirou!" she cried and came to him. "Link's being mean to me!" Shirou gave Link a look.

"Hey, she started it," he answered. Shirou sighed.

* * *

Once Shirou had managed to talk down Taiga, he made his way to his room to change before heading to the dining room for breakfast. On his way he ran into a shambling figure in a yellow nightgown and slippers that he initially took for some bizzare form of zombie, before realizing that it was, in fact, Rin.

"Tohsaka?" Shirou asked.

"Mrph," Rin replied as she moved past him. "Geez, you get up early," she mumbled and then collapsed.

"I take it you're not a morning person?" Shirou asked.

"Ugh," was all Rin said in reply.

"Yeah, mornings suck," Harry said, walking past the pair. The Caster was dressed in a pair of dark jeans, and a t-shirt with a picture of a cartoon graveyard and the words: 'Easter has been cancelled. They found the body.' Then he added, "I need coffee."

"Why does a heroic spirit need coffee?" Shirou asked.

"Life is full of mysteries, kid," Harry answered. He put a hand on Shirou's shoulder and continued, "assume that this is one of them." Then he went to the kitchen.

Sakura was already busy making breakfast by the time Shirou entered the kitchen. Harry had sat down and had apparently managed to find some coffee, because he was drinking from a mug at the dining room table.

Saber was there as well, watching Harry curiously as his scowl lessened in direct relation with how much caffeine was in his system. Rin joined them after a few more moments, looking more alive than she had earlier. Link sauntered in casually, trailed by a dejected looking Fujimura.

Shirou and Sakura set out the meal and they all began to eat. Conversation grew as the Caster and mage woke up and Taiga left her defeated funk.

"You know," Fuji-nee said. "For a foreigner, you really know how to use those chopsticks, Saber."

"Yes, I have grown used to them," Saber replied.

"You're not so bad yourself, Mr. Dresden," Fujimura continued. "You handle them like you've lived here."

"Please, call me Harry," the wizard said. "And, I've got a good teacher."

"So, what exactly do you do?" Fuji-nee asked.

"I'm a private investigator," Harry said. "I mostly track down missing people and items. I operate out of Chicago in America."

"That's pretty far," Sakura commented. "What brought you here to Fuyuki?"

"A little business, a little pleasure," Harry answered. "I met Rin's father when I was out of the country once for work and we kept in touch, and I met a good man who was from Japan. I've been wanting to visit for a long time, but never had a good moment until recently."

"What was his name?" Sakura asked politely. "The man you met."

Harry smiled slightly. "Ironically, his name was Shiro." His eyes went distant for a moment. "He was a good man." Then he blinked and shook his head. "But, you didn't want me to get all gloomy on you." He turned his attention to Saber and Sakura. "How're you getting along with everyone, Sakura? I know we all kind of dropped in suddenly."

"Saber and I were able to talk about all sorts of things thanks to Miss Fujimura."

Saber stopped eating and said, "Yes, we have come to an understanding."

"That's good," Shirou said.

* * *

Shirou, Rin, Sakura, and Taiga all left together for school. Link had elected to stay with Shirou in his astralized form and Dresden had dematerialized with the saber as soon as they could without drawing attention from Taiga or Sakura.

Saber was far more relaxed about Shirou's attendance of school with the knowledge that Link was going to be nearby. Even so, she made Shirou promise to use a Command Seal to summon her if things grew to be too dangerous for Link to handle alone and that he would be back before sundown.

As they came onto the school grounds, Shirou kept an eye out for the Servant he'd met the previous day, Pyrrha. But he couldn't find any trace of the girl's distinctive red hair.

"What are you looking for?" Rin asked quietly as Sakura bade her goodbye and went toward the archery dojo and Taiga zoomed off toward her office.

"Girl, tall, long, red hair, bronze circlet," Shirou said distractedly. "She's a Servant." Rin gaped at Shirou.

"And why the Hell would you be looking for a Servant?" Rin demanded.

"Because she was wandering around the other day and swears she doesn't want to fight," Shirou answered.

"She's a Servant, Emiya," Rin said. "Of course she wants to fight. That's why they're here."

"Huh?"

"The Masters aren't the only ones who want the Grail, Emiya. The Servants all have a wish they want fulfilled as well. The only way they can get their wish is to win with their Master."

"But-"

"Emiya, you have to be more wary about the Servants," Rin continued. "Especially these new, secondary Servants. They won't necessarily act in the same way as the primary Servants. It's entirely possible that this girl is trying to make you lower your guard so that she can kill you when you're not ready for it." Rin adjusted the red leather duster she was wearing as she spoke.

Shirou sighed. "All right, you've made your point. I'll be more careful."

"Good," Rin said with a nod. "I can't have my partner getting himself killed over a simple mistake." She left Shirou and went to the main building.

 _"Which Servant was she?"_ Link asked in Shirou's mind.

"She didn't say," Shirou answered. "She introduced herself as Pyrrha."

 _"She give you a last name?"_

"No. Why, do you recognize her?"

 _"Maybe. I'd have to see her myself to be absolutely sure, but we Servants all gain at least_ some _knowledge of our peers from the throne. What you described sounds vaguely familiar. Servant familiarity is… odd. We all know_ of _each other, but can't recall any specifics until we see something that points us at them."_

"So, was Tohsaka right? Was she just tricking me?"

 _"I'm not sure. Again, I'd have to see her to tell you for certain, but my instincts are saying to go with your gut. You're the one who met her and I don't think she could've lied without Saber catching on."_

"All right. Keep on eye out, okay?"

 _"Of course."_

* * *

"Issei, aren't you going to eat lunch today?" Shirou asked. He and Issei were in the student council office during their lunch break as usual. Issei had his head in his arms, glasses set aside, in an apparent attempt to try and either sleep or, at least, rest.

"I'll eat later," Issei said. His voice was muffled by his position, but his tone revealed an edge of unusual irritation. "I'm so sleepy I can't keep my eyes open."

"Did you stay up all night or something?"

"No," Issei replied. "I just haven't been sleeping very well lately."

There was a knock on the door and Shirou gave the entrance a look. "Hey, Issei. Somebody's here."

"I don't care!" Issei growled. "Tell them the student council room is closed."

The opened right then to reveal the imposing form of Mr. Kuzuki.

"It's Mr. Kuzuki!" Shirou hissed. Issei shot to his feet in an instant, one hand frantically trying to find his glasses. Mr. Kuzuki gave Shirou a long look before turning his attention to Issei.

"Ryuudou, we need to speak," he said and stepped out of the room.

"Yes, sir," Issei said and followed him out of the room, closing the door behind him.

 _"So what's the story behind Mr. Kuzuki?"_ Link asked.

Shirou shrugged. "He's our ethics teacher. I don't know that much about him."

 _"Hmm…"_

Issei's voice drifted back into the room through the door just then. "Wait, you're saying she hasn't come home either?" Shirou's attention snapped to the door. "Thank you, sir. I understand."

"Sorry for the interruption," Mr. Kuzuki said. "Be advised that school will end earlier today."

"Yes, sir."

Issei opened the door a moment later and came back into the room.

"What was that all about?" Shirou asked.

"Well," Issei said, then hesitated as he walked back and reclaimed his seat. Issei seemed deeply disturbed, which was unusual for him. Issei had always had a near perfect poker face and control of his emotions. Shirou suspected it came from being the heir to the Ryuudou temple. Monks were, traditionally, masters of discipline.

"Hey, what's going on?" Shirou asked.

Issei waited a moment, clearly debating something, before looking at Shirou and saying, "Well, I guess it's alright. You're not totally an outsider regarding this matter, so you might want to know.

"Rather late last night, a family called the faculty office saying that their daughter hadn't come home from archery club practice. Based on what they learned from the other members, they determined that the last person to be seen with the missing student was Shinji Matou."

"Wait, Shinji?" Shirou asked. "But he wasn't even at practice yesterday."

"Apparently, a first year had forgotten something at the dojo. When he came back to get it, he said he saw Shinji and the missing student arguing. They tried to confirm this with Shinji himself, but he was absent today and no one's been able to reach him."

Shirou's anger began to rise. Issei was clearly hiding the student's name from him. That could only mean one thing: it was someone Shirou knew. "Issei," he said, his tone sharper, but controlled. "Don't keep me in suspense here. What's the name of the student who went missing?"

Issei let out a breath, then said: "Ayako Mitsuzuri. The captain of the archery club." Utter shock paralyzed Shirou. His talk with her the other day flashed through his mind like lightning. Her heartfelt words: 'You never smile.' Had they been the last thing she said before she disappeared?

Shirou felt a breeze brush by his neck.

* * *

Before the break ended, Shirou tracked down Sakura and asked her if she'd noticed anything odd about Shinji recently.

"No," Sakura said. "I'm so sorry, Shirou. I wish I could help, but I don't see him very often."

"Yeah, that's right," Shirou said, cursing his memory. Sakura spent basically every morning at his place, not her own. And she often spent the evenings with him as well. "You really wouldn't know anything about him. I'm sorry. I'm just barking up the wrong tree."

"No, that's not true at all," Sakura said. "I know my brother, better than anyone else in the whole world."

"Don't get upset. It's nothin' to worry about." Shirou turned to leave, then stopped. Words he hadn't understood before came back to him. Words, he suddenly realized, that had come from the Servant, Pyrrha. _You should trust your instincts about those around you. They're right more often than they're wrong,_ she'd said. She'd also told him that she was interested in the war only to help protect those she loved.

"Sakura?" he asked slowly. "If you're okay with it, would you mind staying at my place for a bit longer? I don't think it's safe for you to keep moving between both of our houses."

"I…" Sakura said, then paused. Shirou didn't turn to face her. "I would like that. Thank you, Shirou." Shirou nodded and then left.

* * *

 **Author's note: Sorry that it's only a short chapter today, but there are inevitably going to be slow points between all the dramatic high points. The next chapter should be more interesting if you're looking for action.**

 **Speaking of next chapter, I do have to provide some unfortunate news. I have to stop… briefly. I'm going to be away for a couple of weeks and my ability to post chapters will become non-existent during that period. The most I'd be able to release would be a single chapter, and I can't make any guarantees on that point. If do have ability to post, it will be sooner rather than later.**

 **I should be back in complete operation by the end of April.**

 **Spartan-140: All will be revealed in time, my friend. The reward will be all the sweeter for the wait. :D**

 **RexEye in the box (You changed your handle, I see): Some from column A, some from column B. Also, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to take your challenge. The events of this story are too planned out to make any sort of changes to the Servant roster, and I write best when concentrating on as few projects as possible. On top of that, shorter fiction (which would be a way to work around my planning for this story) is something I have trouble with. I always want to keep the story going, so keeping stuff short tends to be a problem with me. Thank you very much for the challenge, but it's simply not in the cards right now.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if want the discussion to be less public.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 _Lost items found. Paranormal investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates. No love potions, endless purses, parties, or other entertainment._ \- Harry Dresden, Storm Front

 _"Attention all students. This announcement is to inform you that all after school club meetings have been cancelled today. The library is also closed. Students with no urgent business on campus are to leave school grounds immediately."_

As students were leaving, Shirou asked Mitsuzuri's friends and acquaintances if they'd seen her that day. The consensus was that she'd stayed home sick.

"She did? Thanks a lot," he told the girl. "If Mitsuzuri comes in tomorrow, don't tell her about this, okay?"

Shirou's next stop was to the archery dojo, but when he tried the door he found that it was locked tight.

"Looking for something, Emiya?" Rin asked. Shirou nearly leapt out of his skin as he spun to face the other Master. Instead of her traditional red coat, she was wearing a long, red, leather duster styled after the one Harry wore over her school uniform.

"Gah!" he shouted. "Don't scare me like that, Tohsaka!"

"Oh, but it's fun to mess with you," Rin replied. "What'd you kidnap my Servant for?"

"Huh?" Shirou asked.

"I was in class when I heard Link whisper in my ear that you needed to borrow Caster for something important. Then he ran off somewhere and hasn't answered me when I've tried to reach him. So what'd you kidnap my Servant for?"

"I didn't," Shirou said. "I haven't asked Link to do anything for me."

Rin's eyes narrowed in thought. "Try calling to him," she said.

Shirou spent a moment, concentrating and trying to talk to Link. His questions didn't receive any responses, though.

"He's not answering me," Shirou said.

"Well, that's just great," Rin complained.

Someone screamed. Shirou and Rin spun at the same time, trying to locate the source of the cry.

"Was that a scream?" Shirou asked.

"I think so," Rin said. Shirou took off toward where he thought the scream had come from. Rin followed.

Shirou found the girl collapsed on the ground just outside of the school building. Books and papers were scattered around her and she wasn't moving.

"It looks like she's just unconscious," Shirou reported.

"She's not just unconscious," Rin told him. "Can't you see she's been drained dry?"

"What are you talking about?" Shirou asked as Rin crouched down next to the girl.

"Her mana, her life force to be more precise about it. She has hardly any left." Rin's eyes narrowed in anger. "She'll die if we don't do something."

"She'll die? Are you kidding me?" Shirou asked.

"I should be able to stabilize her with the stones I have," Rin said, grabbing something in her pocket and holding her clenched hand over the unconscious girl. Green light began to emanate from Rin's hand and the girl gasped and started to cough.

Shirou felt a sudden pressure against his side. It was as if someone was staring intently at him. He turned to face the park that was just outside the school. The pressure seemed to come to a fine point and Shirou's instincts screamed at him.

"Oh, crap. Look out!" he shouted and threw his arm out just as something flew through the air toward them.

There was a sickening impact and blood spurted from Shirou's arm as something stabbed into it. Rin's eyes went wide as she and Shirou stared at his injury. "What is that?" she asked. The metal spike that was stabbed into Shirou's arm flickered for a moment and then vanished. "When did?' Rin asked, then she shook herself and lifted one arm to cover most her face. "We've got to do something. You're bleeding really badly." Shirou stood up. "Doesn't that hurt?" she asked. Whatever composure the mage had had seemed to have vanished at the sight of the attack.

"Are you kidding, of course it hurts," Shirou said. He glared at the treeline. "Tohsaka, take care of the girl." Then he took off toward the trees.

As he reached the treeline he grabbed a fallen branch and held it firmly in his hand. "Trace on," he said, running his mana through the limb, reinforcing it to greater withstand attacks. The stress and adrenaline of the situation leant him focus, and the working went off without difficulty.

He continued moving forward for a moment longer before stopping. He caught a flash of movement through the trees. A flash of a familiar figure. Shirou took a step in that direction and his instincts went off again.

He turned just in time to see a figure materialize and hurtle toward him at high speed. Shirou managed to sidestep enough to avoid being killed, but the sheer speed and force behind the attack sent him spinning.

His attacker made a three point landing and held one arm out to her side, a shaft of metal held in her hand, chains connected to one end. The woman had long, light purple hair and wore an outfit of black and purple. She wore sleeves of black with purple bands of armor on the ends, tall boots that reached her mid-thigh, and a small, tight dress that was shoulderless and low cut. Her eyes were covered by a purple plate that conformed to fit her face and didn't appear to be impairing her vision. There was also a large red, symbol on her forehead.

"It's a Servant," Shirou said. The Servant leapt into the air and into the cover provided by the trees. Shirou grimaced and glanced around, trying to see where she would land.

The spike of metal she'd been carrying shot out of the branches and straight down toward Shirou. He barely managed to evade the attack and the impact kicked up a cloud of dirt next to him. Shirou moved away and put his back against a tree.

"What's the matter?" a woman's voice asked. "You're not going to use a Command Seal? I'm surprised."

"Sorry," Shirou replied. "I'd rather not use one if I don't have to."

"I see," the woman answered. "Unlike my own Master, you have courage. In that case, I will take a different tact. Young Master, I will endeavour to kill you gently."

The woman shot of of the branches and Shirou blocked her stab with his reinforced branch. She went low, spun and came at him again with a kick. Shirou blocked the strike with his branch, but the greater strength of the heroic spirit knocked him spiraling back. She kicked downward with her other leg and Shirou barely managed to evade. She twisted and lashed out with the chain connected to the spike in her hand.

Shirou blocked the chain with his reinforced branch and forced the links of metal away. The woman looked shocked at Shirou's defense and he took the moment to back away a few steps.

"Not very impressive," Shirou said. "Compared to the other Servant's I've seen, you don't pack any punch."

"You're wrong," the Servant said, lowering her weapon. "And this is why." She lifted her other hand, her fingers clenched as if she was holding something. "You've been caught by me, and you have been since the very beginning." She yanked her arm down and a chain shimmered into visibility.

Shirou was yanked off of his feet and into the air, suspended under a branch by the spike and chain that had impaled his arm earlier. He let out a shout of pain and the cold metal, was shifted slightly by the force of the woman.

"Now then, what was that you were saying?" she asked, walking up to where he was hanging. "I'm not sure I actually heard you correctly. What was it? Something about me being inferior to the other Servants? No, that won't do." Shirou tightened his grip on the branch in his hand and swung at the Servant.

She deftly caught his hand, twisted his arm behind his body and shoved him into the tree he was hanging from. Then she slapped her other hand onto his face, two fingers holding one of his eyes open.

"I'll pluck out those badly mistaken eyes," she continued. "And then move on to your limbs."

There was the sound of rushing air and something flat, and wooden spun past Shirou and smacked into the woman's wrist with what sounded like bone-breaking force. The woman let out a howl of pain and recoiled. Her motion spun Shirou away from the tree, giving him a perfect view of a boomerang surrounded by swirling wind smacking into the woman's shoulder as it spun away from her and back into Link's hand.

The boomerang shimmered and was replaced with his sword, his shield materializing in his right hand. He shot forward with unnatural speed and swung, severing the chain holding Shirou under the tree, with his sword and bringing the weapon down toward the woman in one motion.

The woman leapt back, out of Link's effective range, whipped her chain, spun, and vanished.

"Emiya!" Rin shouted, running to him. "Are you okay?" Shirou simply groaned and sat upright. "Okay, we have to stop this bleeding," Rin said, lifting up Shirou's arm. "I need a cloth, do you have anything I can wrap it with?"

A band of cloth bandages landed on the ground near Rin and she turned to look at Link. "Hurry," he said. "There should be more than enough there to stop the bleeding." Then he muttered, "Saber's going to kill me. I slip off for a couple of hours and everything goes to Hell."

Rin began working on wrapping Shirou's arm in the bandages. "I assume that woman was a Servant?" Rin asked Shirou.

"Yeah, she attacked out of nowhere," Shirou said. Rin gave him a flat look. "Don't look at me like that," Shirou said. "I couldn't find out who it was."

"She was fast," Link said. "I got lucky with the boomerang. You must've done something to get her attention, Shirou."

"And this definitely means that there's another Master at school besides us," Shirou said.

"That's right and he's finally made his move," Rin said, tying a knot in the bandages. "Okay, that should do."

"More importantly, what happened with that girl?" Shirou asked.

"She bounced back," Rin said. "I think she's out of the woods now."

"Good, that's great," Shirou said.

"Now then," Rin said and rounded on Link. "Where the Hell were you? And where the Hell is Caster? He's still not answering me."

"I was playing junior detective," Link said. "And Harry's off doing his day job. We figured if anyone was stupid enough to attack you two you'd be able to handle it until we got there. Harry can teleport us, remember? We were separated when I felt Shirou get attacked, so I ran all the way back with the pegasus boots. As far as I know, Harry's still investigating."

"We should get back," Rin said. "In case another Servant decides to show up."

* * *

Being forced to sneak into his own house was a bit odd to Shirou, but it was necessary in order to help him change out of his torn and bloodied clothes without worrying Taiga or Sakura. Rin snuck off to her own room to change and try to see if she could contact Harry again.

Saber, of course, wasn't fooled. She was waiting for him in his room as he snuck in to change.

"Shirou," she snapped, in a tone that Shirou imagined mothers used when they were punishing their children. "You gave me your word you be back before sunset."

"I'm sorry," Shirou said. "You have every right to yell at me. Something happened and we got delayed."

"What happened?" Saber asked.

"I messed up, is what happened," Link said. "I left Shirou alone for a few hours and he was attacked by a Servant."

"What?" Saber demanded.

"The problem was solved," Link said. "I got back in time thanks to my pegasus boots. Shirou here," and he pointed a thumb at the Master. "Didn't use a Command Seal and decided that he should take her on on his own. It doesn't excuse my lapse, but it is also something we need to talk to him about."

Saber turned her attention back to Shirou. "Why didn't you summon me?" she asked. "You said you would if you were in danger that Link could not handle."

"Yeah, but I didn't feel like I was in any real danger," Shirou said. "Everything happened so fast."

"You were attacked by a Servant, Shirou. How can that situation not be dangerous?"

"Well, I just," Shirou said.

"You have to start taking your role as a Master seriously, Shirou," Saber said, cutting off Shirou's hesitant reply.

"You're not a Servant, Shirou," Link added. "You don't have the abilities to defend yourself that we do. Taking one on is a guaranteed way to get yourself killed. Our purpose here is to protect you and fight. This incident should only further reinforce that for you."

Shirou grimaced and didn't reply.

"I would like to offer a suggestion," Saber suddenly said. "If you are going to insist on standing your ground or getting involved in the fights around you, then from here on you should get experience through hands on training."

Link's eyes lit up. "Oh, I like that," he said. "It would certainly help for whenever he's attacked again. Plus, there's no better way to learn discipline than through the martial arts."

Shirou blinked in surprise. He had expected a greater lecture, but this...

He nodded. "You have a point," he said. "Thank you for the offer."

* * *

"I'm home," Shirou said to Sakura and Taiga, as he entered the living room. He was now dressed in his usual shirt and jeans, the torn and blood stained clothes thrown away.

"There you are, Shirou. Welcome back," Sakura said, stepping out of the kitchen holding a ladle.

"Hey, welcome back home," Taiga said. Several orange peels were laid out in front of her on the table like flowers. A freshly peeled orange was in her hand. "Saber was really mad at you."

"Yeah," Shirou said. "I noticed."

Taiga smiled and rose to her feet. "There's news on Mitsuzuri," she said. "She was found a little while ago."

"Great, thank goodness someone found her," Shirou said, excited relief in his voice. Then something occurred to Shirou. "Wait a second, how did you know about that?"

"Oh, Issei asked me to tell you about her," Taiga answered. "He said that her memory is jumbled up a bit, but there's no visible injury and her condition isn't life threatening."

"That's really great news, isn't it?" Sakura asked.

"It is," Shirou said.

"It gets more interesting," Taiga said. "Issei gave me a description of who brought her home. It was Rin's friend, Mr. Dresden."

Shirou's eyes went wide. "Wait, _Harry_ brought her back?"

"Yep," Taiga said. "I guess he wasn't kidding when he said this is what he does. He hasn't come back yet so we'll have to wait for him to come back for more details."

"He's probably with the police," Shirou guessed. His mind was racing. Dresden had been missing for hours, and Link had gone with him for at least a major portion of that time. Had they been mounting a rescue? Where had Mitsuzuri been to require _two_ Servants to go after her?

* * *

Harry didn't come back for another hour. Everyone was gathered in the dining room making polite conversation when Harry opened the door and stepped inside. There was an exclamation of greetings and questions. The wizard ignored the chorus and sat down at the table before promptly dropping his head onto it with an exhausted sigh.

Rin won the conversational ball. "Everything okay, Dresden?"

"Remind me to never get arrested here," he said. "If the cops are going to grill me that much when I'm being _helpful_ , I'd hate to see what happens when I do something wrong."

"What does that mean?" Shirou asked.

"That the Bible missed a couple of details regarding the story of the Good Samaritan," Harry replied, not actually answering. He rose into an upright position. Then he smiled. "Your friend, Mitsuzuri, is home safe. I was running all over town, but I found her."

"What happened?" Shirou asked. "Where was she?"

"I found her ditched in an alleyway in New City," Harry answered. "Unharmed, but unconscious and confused." Harry's hand tightened on his knee. "I got her home as quickly as I could and then spent a couple of hours talking to the police about what I'd been up to and how I'd found her."

"But, why would the police question you for hours?" Sakura asked.

Harry gave her a smile. "They're paid to be paranoid. I don't begrudge them the caution, but when a grown man magically produces a missing teenager, everyone involved gets extra careful. They kept me until they could get a call to the people I know in Chicago. I have a good track record with some of the police there as a consultant. Once that was done, they ran through what I told them and then said I could go."

Shirou caught the way Rin narrowed her eyes in thought and the subtle wink Harry sent her way. It wasn't hard to picture Rin's thoughts. Harry was a Heroic Spirit, which meant he had to be dead. He was also a Secondary Servant, which implied he was from another world entirely. So how had the police been able confirm his record with the authorities in America?

"So then, Mr. Dresden?" Fuji-nee asked. "Was it difficult to find her? How'd you do it?"

"Magic," Harry said, simply. Rin gave him a flat look. "Hey, she asked." Rin continued to give him a look. The wizard flashed her a smile and then launched into an explanation on investigation techniques and his history with finding missing people with an investigator called Nick Christian.

* * *

Harry pulled Shirou aside as everyone went to their separate rooms. Harry had dominated most of the discussion at the table, answering questions about investigations and techniques from Taiga and Sakura. Even Saber had seemed interested in the discussion of Harry's job.

"Shirou," Harry asked, once they were alone. "How well do you know the Matous?"

"Uh, okay I guess? I know Sakura pretty well and I know Shinji."

Harry nodded. "The police and everyone else involved believe I found your friend Mitsuzuri in an alleyway in New City, but you deserve to know the truth."

Shirou grew cold. "Where was she?"

"The reason I was gone for so long wasn't just because I needed to share my story with the authorities," Harry explained. "I was gone for so long because I was storming the Matou manor. That's where Mitsuzuri was."

Cold was replaced with heat and Shirou's hands clenched into fists. "Shinji," he growled.

"That's certainly possible," Harry said. "I give you my word that nothing was done to Ayako. But I also thought you should know. Is Sakura going to be heading home?"

Shirou shook his head. "No, I asked her to keep staying here."

"That's probably a good idea," Harry said. "That house isn't a good place for someone like Sakura."

"What does that mean?"

Harry shook his head. "It's… difficult to explain. Places can collect energy and that energy can draw in certain types of people and creatures or bring out certain qualities in those in that area. For example, a lot of supernatural predators make their lairs in locations that reflect some part of their darker nature, and people in that same area are more likely to be angry or afraid. With me so far?"

"I think so," Shirou said. "What does this have to do with Sakura?"

"The Matou house felt… wrong when I was there," Harry said. "I'm frankly amazed that Sakura is the way she is given the energies I felt while I was there."

"What are you saying?" Shirou asked.

"I'm saying: be careful," Harry said. "Shinji might have something far darker on the inside than you think."

* * *

 **Author's note: And thus, I have returned! Thank you all for your patience in my absence.**

 **I'm actually really happy about this chapter. As I've said before, Ayako is one of my favorite characters so this little side quest of Harry's was fun. Not only that, but I got to have Harry do some of the shenanigans he often does during the Dresden Files books. For those of you who might not know what that means... Let's just say that the repair costs on the Matou house are going to be obnoxious.**

 **Now for some... mixed news. I'm going to be altering my post schedule to simply one day a week instead of two. While I was travelling I got my mind back onto one of my RWBY fics and I want to try and do some work on that story while also working on this one. I have a mixed track record with working on multiple stories at once, so I want to make sure that I have an appropriate schedule so that I can actually try and switch between the stories. This also allows me to build up a good backlog for this story so that if I get onto a huge RWBY binge, this story won't be interrupted.**

 **Zane: Well, now, see. If you just guess a half dozen possible choices, then it takes away the fun of the guess. Guessing a single Servant can possibly prompt me to PM a yes or a no (I've already done this once). I love that you're really thinking this through though and I hope you'll be surprised as they are revealed.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if want the discussion to be less public.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 _Actions speak louder than words._ \- Popular aphorism

Shirou could practically _feel_ Link's astralized form staying close to him as he came onto the school campus. Link seemed to be making up for his previous error and was actively staying near Shirou in case he was attacked again.

As Shirou crossed the border of the school grounds, he felt that same wave of wrongness he had a few days ago.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked. Sakura and Fuji-nee had left before them, Sakura for archery club and Taiga for some work she had to do before classes started.

"I feel it again," Shirou said.

"Feel what?" Rin asked.

"It sometimes hits me when I pass through here. I start to feel queasy, like I'm suffocating. It's like the air is somehow close and sticky."

"You're probably reacting to the barrier," Rin said. "I'm not surprised, it's getting much stronger. If we don't do anything, it'll probably activate in a couple of days."

"A couple of days?!" Shirou exclaimed.

"Would you keep your voice down?" Rin asked. "I said 'if we don't do anything.' Meet me on the roof for lunch and we can talk about it then."

"Okay," Shirou agreed and they made their way to their respective classrooms. A voice called out to Shirou as he set his bag on his desk.

"Hey, Emiya!" Shinji called out from his desk. As usual, he was surrounded by hangers on. The Matou seemed remarkably calm given that Harry claimed to have stormed his home. "Hear about Mitsuzuri?" he asked. "Pretty weird. Yeah I found out all about it at the dojo this morning." His voice gained an unpleasant quality and Shirou remembered Harry's words about the Matou home. "Did you know she was found in New City? In a back alley at that? I hear that her eyes were glazed over and her uniform was in tatters." Shinji made his way over to Shirou, hands in his pockets and acting nonchalant.

"I really don't know what could've happened. I mean, how did the little stuck up end up getting ditched in an alley like that? As a friend I must admit I'm more than a little-"

"Shinji," Shirou snapped, cutting off the Matou. Shirou moved forward, his hands had balled into fists as Shinji had been speaking. Shirou knew the truth and that fact was feeding on itself and becoming a fire in his chest.

"If looks could kill," Shinji commented. "Well I'm just kidding of course. It's only a rumor, right? But after yesterday, this news has been talked about a lot among the first year students."

"You were the last person to see Mitsuzuri, weren't you?" Shirou asked.

"Yeah, but all we did was make idle chit-chat," Shinji replied. He hadn't been at all put out by the venom in Shirou's voice.

Anger made Shirou reckless. He grabbed Shinji's shoulders with an iron grip before he regained control.

Shinji dropped the confident tone. "Be careful with your speculations," he said. "Don't throw out false accusations, or you'll regret it, Emiya."

Shirou locked eyes with Shinji. The Matou was untouchable right now, and he knew it. Shirou couldn't lash out at him and it wasn't the smart move. The roiling anger in Shirou's chest, however, demanded that something be done. An idea occurred to Shirou. Something subtle that would perfectly drive home that knowledge that he knew what Shinji had done to him and him alone.

He let go of the Matou's shoulders. "Maybe you're right," he said, his voice lower, but loud enough to carry. "But while we're on the subject of rumors, how're you holding up? I heard that there was a gas explosion at your place and that your kitchen was utterly destroyed. Do you need any help with that? I suppose it was lucky that Sakura was staying at my place last night."

Hate and terror shone in Shinji's eyes at Shirou's question. Shinji was smart enough to see the implied statement and that terrified him. But the fact that Shirou was asking after him, and offering his customary assistance, angered him as well. Shinji had too much pride to accept Shirou's help. And bringing up his sister's safety was just another way to stick it to Shinji.

The bell rang and spared Shinji from having to respond. He turned and stalked back to his desk, throwing a hateful look at Shirou.

* * *

Once the lunch break started, Shirou made his way to the roof where Tohsaka was already waiting for him. Rin was leaning against the fencing that surrounded the edge of the roof, her arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. When he stepped out, Harry materialized beside her.

"Hey," he said. "We've got some stuff to talk about about."

"Such as?" Shirou asked.

"Like how you managed to convince half of the school that you, Sakura, and I are all in some sort of salacious relationship?" Rin growled.

"Uh," Shirou said, confused.

"You did mention that Sakura was staying with you in front of a classroom full of hormonal tennagers," Harry said. "And Rin was clearly visible coming to school with you today, since she isn't exactly unidentifiable in that duster I gave her. Really, did this _not_ occur to you?"

Rin let out a huff. "Honestly, Emiya," she said. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Shirou defended. "I just-"

"Forget it, Emiya," Rin said. "I can deal with the idiots later. We have other things we need to talk about." Her tone implied later retribution and Shirou gulped.

"As you've noticed," Harry said. "There's a barrier that's been erected around the school."

"The barrier is rather vicious," Rin explained. "Once it's activated we're doomed. It'll melt the minds and absorb the psyches of every person on this campus."

"The Master's plan is likely to strengthen the power of his Servants regardless of the cost," Harry said.

"So the Servant I fought yesterday must be his," Shirou said.

"Given the Servant's speed, she's likely the Rider," Rin said. "And that would be the logical conclusion, but we don't have any hard evidence at this point."

Shirou's brow furrowed in thought. _Logically,_ Shirou thought. _Rider would be Shinji's servant. Rider had attacked a student, and Dresden had pulled Mitsuzuri from the Matou mansion. Shinji had a motivation to attack Mitsuzuri, and a Servant would be a perfect weapon to use on her, since she wouldn't be traceable or detectable. But what if it's just a coincidence? All I have is a shrewd guess._

"Hey, how do identify a Master?" Shirou asked. "I mean, if you were standing next to another Master, would you be able to tell?"

Rin raised an eyebrow, but looked thoughtful. "I suppose, but only if he hasn't done anything to conceal himself. A Master is a mage, so all you have to do is follow their mana and you can find them easily. But that would only give you suspects, nothing more."

 _So maybe it is just a coincidence._

"Anyway," Rin said. "Until we know who this Master is, all we can do is delay the barrier."

"Really?" Shirou asked, losing his train of thought. "Can we actually do that?"

"The barrier is some upper-tier stuff," Harry said. "We can't destroy it without unleashing a truly huge amount energy. But that doesn't mean we can't mess around with what helps it build up a charge. If we cut the gas lines, the car is going to slow down. It's got too much momentum to stop, but we can make it inconvenient for the Master to use."

"All we have to do is destroy the sigils and we can slow down the activation process," Rin finished.

"Sigils?" Shirou asked.

"That's right," Rin said. "Once the barrier's been created, it starts making a varied number of sigils which then resonate with each other and allow the barrier to expand. Each sigil creates another and the barrier eventually grows larger and larger. As long as the sigils are in place, the barrier will grow until it's finally engulfed its target. Therefore, if we destroy the sigils, it will allow us to slow down the barrier."

"The only problem with the plan," Harry added. "is that for every sigil we destroy, another will eventually regenerate. It's a delaying tactic and nothing more."

"So how do I fit into this plan?" Shirou asked.

"Well the first thing we have to do is locate the sigils," Rin answered. "For you, that's any place you've reacted to. Someplace like the entrance gates to the school that made you suddenly feel nauseous or the air feel sticky. We need more locations like that."

"So, like that one over there?" Shirou asked, pointing a thumb at a spot on the roof nearby.

Rin gave him a flat look. "Oh, come on. If they were _that_ easy to find I would've taken them out already." She made her way over to where Shirou indicated. "You have to focus to find them. Sharpen your senses and really concentrate." She crouched down and laid a hand where Shirou had pointed. Then she gasped. "You're right," she said, surprised.

Harry started laughing. "The look," he said. "On your face." Rin gave Harry a flat look, which only made the wizard laugh harder.

"It's not funny, Caster," Rin said.

"It is from here," Harry answered. He managed to regain control and gave Shirou a look. "You might be like Molly, and have a talent for sensing energies."

"It looks like slowing down this reclusive Master just got a little bit easier," Rin said.

"You're working with me, Rin," Harry said as they made their way off of the roof. "It's never easy."

Once classes ended, Shirou and Rin spent the next hour or so searching and destroying the sigils created by the bounded field around the school.

"Well," Rin said and she finished destroying another sigil. "That should be most of the active sigils."

"You were able to disable the bounded field then?" Shirou asked.

"No," Rin answered. "The sigils are merely a symptom of the field. The only way to absolutely destroy the field is to defeat the Servant that created it. And the Servant's Master isn't likely to stand by once he discovers what we've done. He'll probably make his move in the next couple of days."

* * *

Shirou had packed up his school bag and was leaving his classroom when the confrontation came.

Rin had left early with Harry, saying that she had some things to pick up that would be useful for the next few days.

"Heading home after a long, weary day, Emiya?" Shinji Matou asked. He was leaning against a doorway to another classroom, his arms crossed and his customary smug expression on his face. "Sigil erasing can be tedious."

"So it _is_ you," Shirou said. "You're the one who set up the field."

"It's an insurance policy I set up for myself," Shinji said. "And you're a lot cleverer than I thought to have pieced it together on your own, Emiya. Or was your Caster the one who figured it out?"

Shirou suppressed his moment of confusion and surprise. It wouldn't do to tip Tohsaka's hand, or his own. If Shinji thought that he had a Caster, he wouldn't plan for anything that Link or Saber would be able to do.

Shinji saw Shirou's tension and said, "Oh don't be so on edge, Emiya. Just like you, I don't have any mana, but they're making me a Master." He walked up to Shirou as he spoke.

"What's the story with that field?" Shirou asked.

"I told you: It's just a little insurance." Shinji walked past Shirou.

"Are you the one who attacked that girl yesterday?" Shirou asked.

"Fact is: I didn't have any choice. My Servant did that stuff all on her own." Shirou didn't reply. "Oh come on, Emiya. You have to believe me. The last thing I want to do is fight anybody."

Shirou narrowed his eyes. _That's a load of crap_ , he thought. Shinji definitely wasn't the sort to fight, but that didn't mean he wouldn't use his Servant to enact petty vengeance. All he said aloud was: "All right then." Then he started to walk away.

"Wait a minute, Emiya," Shinji said. "Will you team up with me? We Matous have been a mage family for a very long time."

Shirou spun around. "What? You have?"

"Of course," Shinji said. "It's no surprise you wouldn't know since you're not a proper mage. If you don't believe me, ask your friend Tohsaka."

Harry's words returned to Shirou. _Shinji might have something far darker on the inside._

"Shinji, does Sakura know what you are?"

"Mage families only hand down their secret arts to the eldest son," Shinji answered. Anger snuck into Shinji's voice and he added, "As if anyone would teach sorcery to that dunce of a girl." He turned his attention back to Shirou. "So, what do you say?"

"If you aren't going to do anything, I have no reason to work with you, right?" Shirou asked. He started to walk away again.

"Oh? So you won't work with me, huh? Emiya, be serious. Are you actually going to try to win?" Shirou stopped walking and didn't answer. "I see," Shinji said. "If so, I can't leave my sister in the home of someone who's going to keep taking part in this slaughter."

Shirou felt his shoulders tense. _I'm frankly amazed that Sakura is the way she is, given the energies I felt when I was there,_ Harry had said.

"I think that's Sakura's decision," Shirou said. "Not mine, and certainly not yours." Shirou could sense the shock on Shinji's face. "And I'm pretty sure she'd be far safer at my place than yours." Then Shirou left.

* * *

"Wide open!" Saber declared and slammed her sword into Shirou, sending him sprawling into the dojo wall. Saber moved back into her combat stance, her face stern and unyielding.

"You're doing well," Link said from his spot on the sidelines. "There's intensity behind your attacks. Though you still lack some focus."

Night had fallen some time ago, but Shirou refused to back down. It had been decided that Saber would be Shirou's sparring partner, since Link specialized with a shield, which used slightly different tactics. Link stayed on the sidelines, commenting on where Shirou needed work. Which basically meant he criticized everything Shirou did.

Saber had been relentless in her assault. The only force she pulled from her swings were to keep from permanently injuring Shirou, and she didn't limit herself to simple sword swings either. She drove her body into him and forced him into the walls and floor of the dojo with painful regularity.

Shirou panted and rose to his feet, bringing his own weapon to bear. "Okay, one more match," he said.

Saber smiled and attacked and Link spoke as the battle commenced. "Your practice with Taiga has helped create a foundation to build on," he said. "You don't need to train your muscles to hold the sword correctly and you've got the very beginnings of a solid stance."

Saber drove her weapon into Shirou and knocked him off of his feet once again. "Emphasis on 'beginnings,'" she added.

"Your legs need to be wider and your center of gravity needs to be lower," Link said. "You have to be able to push back against a heavy blow and able to dodge with a quick burst of motion."

"Ow," Shirou said.

"Pain is your friend," Link said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

* * *

Shirou was still feeling pain as he sat down in the shed to practice his magecraft. "When Saber decides to do something, she doesn't hold back," he said to himself, picking up a shaft of wood.

He closed his eyes and released a pulse of power, creating the magic circuit to perform his magic with the words, "Trace on."

With that single pulse of energy, Shirou scanned and understood the complete structure of the wood in his hand. Then he began to pour power into the wood, energy to help rearrange and augment the wood's function.

The shaft burst into splinters in his hand, overloaded by the energy he poured into it.

"Ah, crap," he cursed. "Link's right, I have to concentrate." He picked up a stone that was on the tarp in front of him.

"Shirou?" someone asked. He glanced over in surprise and saw Saber standing in the doorway.

"Yeah? What is it?" Shirou asked, his frustration forgotten.

"Nothing," Saber said. "Except that I sensed mana in here. You were training?"

"Yeah," Shirou said. "Basically I come in here and do this every day."

Saber smiled. "May I enter and join you?"

Shirou's mouth opened in surprise. "Okay," he said after a moment.

"I understand that your magical specialty is reinforcement," Saber said as she sat down near him.

"It's the only thing I can do," Shirou admitted. "So I don't know if 'specialty' is the right word."

"I'm curious. How does one train in the art of reinforcement?"

"Well, reinforcement isn't just about simply increasing something's toughness. It also includes increasing its effectiveness." Shirou held up the rock in his hand. "For this rock it's making it harder." He pointed with a finger. "For that lightbulb it's about making it shine brighter.

"I visualize the object's component materials and then concentrate as hard as I can and focus all my mana to pass through it."

"I see," Saber said.

It was just then that Shirou noticed how close Saber was to him. Her knees were touching his leg and her face was very close to his own. Shirou reflexively leaned away slightly and his cheeks felt hot.

"O-ummm, it's better to show than to tell," he said quickly, moving away slightly. "I'll try it on this rock." He closed his eyes and bent his focus toward the rock. There was a scent in the air, a hint of the soap Saber must've used when she cleaned herself after the sparring practice.

"Trace on," he said, creating the circuit and pouring his mana into the stone. There was the slightest warm breeze from Saber's breath on his cheek. "Tracing basic structure," he said, trying to keep his focus. "Tracing component materials." Warmth radiated off of her, conflicting with the cool winter air. "Fundamental structure, altering." Saber was watching him, and he felt compelled to succeed. "Now reinforcing component materials," he grunted with effort. He couldn't mess up. There was a rush of energy and the rock split into two clean pieces, the cut ends smoking slightly.

"Damn," he said. "Another bust." His shoulders slumped. "Actually, my success rate is pretty low."

"Shirou," Saber said. "Recently, I have sensed that your concentration has been somewhat lacking." Shirou's ears heard what she was saying, but his eyes kept shifting around of their own accord and he kept tearing them away to pay attention to her words.

Her legs, folded under her in their stockings, her brilliant, jade green eyes, her soft lips.

"Oh, um, really?" he asked. He felt himself blush and tried to fight back his embarrassment, which only made the blush worse. "Well, actually," he added, trying to find something to distract himself. "I have a lot better luck working with bladed tools like this one here." He picked up a pocket knife from the tarp and unfolded it.

Saber rose to her feet. "I can see that my being here is a distraction," she said. "Please try not to push yourself too hard."

"I won't," Shirou said, partly relieved, partly disappointed. "Good night." He let out a long breath after Saber left.

A moment later, there was a knock on the entrance to the shed. "Hello?" Shirou asked.

Harry poked his head in and said, "Hey, you got second?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Shirou said.

The wizard entered and sat down on the ground by Shirou. "It's occurred to me," he said. "That we haven't exactly talked much since Rin and I invaded your house."

"Oh," Shirou said. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Harry shrugged. "It's fine. We have been busy after all and, technically speaking, we're enemies." Harry leaned back. "But I have this feeling that you're going to be really interesting."

"Why is that?" Shirou asked.

Harry smiled. "Because your name is Shirou, and I lost my faith in coincidence a _long_ time ago."

 **Author's note: For those of you who may be wondering: No I won't be describing what Harry did to Shinji's house. I think it's scarier this way. :) But, if there's one thing Dresden knows, it's burning buildings.**

 **One of the fun parts of writing this story is trying to understand the new relationships between the various characters, especially with so many newcomers. Harry and Shirou is only just one of those, but it's going to be a very interesting relationship.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if want the discussion to be less public.**


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 _Heaven hath no rage like love to hatred turned, not Hell a fury like a woman scorned._ \- Lash'iel, Skin Game

Shirou fell asleep in the shed. He'd been… contemplative as he'd drifted off to sleep. Harry had asked that they play a game of questions. They asked about each other in turn, providing answers honestly, promising that they wouldn't venture into anything the other found uncomfortable.

Dresden had… understood Shirou. It hadn't been obvious, something boldly stated, but an underlying acknowledgement in their dialog. Harry had understood Shirou's drive, his pain, and his ideals without words or explanation.

Shirou had almost been willing to talk about the night ten years ago, but something had held him back. That was too deep for their first game.

Shirou dreamt of a twisting staircase inside of a tall tower. He dreamt of a door, made of stone. A gold chalice in a stone room. An urn on the deck of a ship. A knife held in his thin and delicate hand. A man in a rocky desert with something golden over his shoulder.

The images repeated themselves over and over again, cycling until they became a blur of color and sensation.

Shirou woke up with a start and found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Low and expansive buildings surrounded him and he stood in an open stone courtyard. The buildings fell into recognition as his brain went into panicked overdrive.

"Ryuudou temple?" Shirou asked aloud.

"That's right," came the unexpected reply. Shirou turned around, as a cloud of dark energy coalesced and a feminine figure in dark robes and a hood appeared. Shirou instinctively tried to lurch away, but something tightened around his wrists and ankles, forcing him to say in place.

It was only then that Shirou saw the thin, almost imperceptible lines of power that hung in the air like spider silk. Those lines hung in the air and wrapped around his limbs and neck, impossibly holding him in place in spite of their fragile appearance.

"The Caster class Servant," Shirou said, struggling uselessly against the threads.

"Yes, indeed I am," the woman said. "Master of Sabers."

Shirou grimaced and tried calling upon his mana, attempting to overcome the threads metaphysically, rather than with brute force. He might not have any true technique with magecraft, but something as thin as those lines might not even need technique to be destroyed.

"Do not bother," Caster said. "Once in effect, a spell cannot be simply washed away with the water of mana." Which, Shirou realized, made sense. A mage as potent as a Caster class Servant wouldn't be able to be overcome with a simple trick. "Especially by the flow from magic circuits as feeble as yours are," Caster added.

"Meaning that I was easy to summon here," Shirou said.

"Meaning that, of all the Masters, you are the weakest by far."

"So what now?" Shirou demanded. "You're gonna kill me?"

"You can relax. If I killed you I wouldn't be able to drain you of your mana," Caster said. "I killed a few before I had a feel for it, but now I can collect just the right amount."

"You're the one behind those coma cases?" Shirou asked, playing dumb.

"Oh come now," Caster said. "You've been hanging around that fake Caster. You surely had to know. Caster class Servants have the prerogative to establish a position. By building myself a temple here, I've protected myself from you. You _can_ see it, can't you? The mana of hundreds of that rabble of humans out there is stored densely in this soil."

Fury blazed within Shirou. "Caster!" he growled. "Damn you. You involved outsiders, how could you do that?"

" _Well said,_ " a voice said from empty air. Something whooshed directly past Shirou and a blade shining with brilliant sunlight materialized and flashed toward Caster. The woman gasped in surprise and barely managed to move back enough to avoid the strike. Shirou caught the sight of several pale purple hairs drifting the wake of the attack.

Caster moved to one side as Link spun and faced her, sword and shield in a ready position.

"Link!" Shirou exclaimed.

"What?" Caster demanded. "How did you get here?"

"Come on, Shirou," Link said. "Did you think I was going to leave you alone after yesterday? If there wasn't a friendly within sight of you, I was over your shoulder. If there was, I was a polite distance away. I owed you that much."

Caster grimaced. Whether it was annoyance at the interruption or the fact that Link was basically ignoring her, Shirou couldn't tell. Link turned his full attention to Caster.

"Well, Caster," he said. "Shall we dance?"

Caster cast her hand forward and lines of brilliant purple light shot toward Link. Shirou caught the smirk on Link's face as the saber moved.

He didn't dodge like Shirou expected. Instead he charged forward, his shield held before himself and his blade glowing with sunlight once again.

Caster's aim was perfect, every bolt of power striking the shield, and every single beam reflected off of the shield and didn't leave so much as a scratch on the steel. Link's sword suddenly grew brighter and the warrior spun, cutting the air before himself in a slash.

Blue light arced through the air toward Caster, and the mage shot into the air, allowing the energy attack to simply pass under her flying form. Then she surged to the side, more points of light appearing behind her.

Link spun in mid charge and the shield shimmered, replaced by a wooden boomerang with wind swirling around it. With a shout Link hurled the boomerang at Caster.

The woman waved a hand dismissively and a gust of wind sent the boomerang off course. She lifted her hand again to attack and cried out in pain as the boomerang adjusted itself in mid-flight and slammed into her arm. Then it swung around and struck her several more times before flying back to Link's hand.

"Children's toys won't help you," Caster said and unleashed several more blasts at Link. Something shimmered on Link's wrist and the warrior leapt impossibly high into the air, imitating Caster's earlier evasion. He lifted a small wooden object with his left hand and with his right he drew back a band and then released.

Something resembling a nut from a tree shot out from the slingshot and nailed Caster right in the head. There was a blinding flash of light and a shout of surprise from Caster.

Link made a perfect three-point landing and shot forward with blinding speed, his boots changing into a different pair with a pair of wings attached, and his glowing sword returned to his hand.

Caster dodged another attack and Shirou began to suspect that there was something wrong. Link was moving with incredible speed and it seemed improbable that Caster was fast enough to dodge multiple attacks from a Saber class Servant.

Link suddenly leapt back and held his sword in a ready position, his shield missing. "What's wrong, Caster?" he taunted. "Are petty tricks all you can do? I'm using children's toys to beat you. I came out looking for a fight! Shirou could throw better spells than that!"

Absolute fury coursed from Caster. "You dare? You dare compare me to that pathetic waste of magic circuits?!" Caster lifted one hand and a ball of dark power coalesced over her palm. Purple and black energy twisted around the sphere and space itself seemed to warp around the energy. Caster hurled the ball of super-condensed power at Link with a cry.

Link swung his sword directly into the sphere of power, and the spell was launched back along its trajectory back toward Caster.

Caster shouted in surprise and a barrier of magic formed around her just before the spell impacted. There was a deafening BOOM and a cloud of dust rose from the detonation. Link spun his weapon and held it at his side.

"Never underestimate what your opponent can do," he said. "You should've realized that my shield wasn't the only thing capable to deflecting your blows, Caster. No darkness can touch this blade."

A pair of beams shot of from the dust cloud and Link deflected both with fast swings of his sword. Then another dense ball of energy hurtled from the cloud and Link slapped the strike away with his sword.

Except the ball of energy split into two a second before Link's sword struck it, sending only one half of the attack away. The other half slammed into Link and spread across him like sludge. Link dropped his weapon and began to writhe and scream in agony.

"And you should never underestimate a caster whose seen a trick once," Caster said, stepping out of the settling dust cloud. "You lured me into a false sense of security by not bringing out your shield. I'll give you credit for that. But you shouldn't have expected me to do the same trick twice. That's just stupidity."

Link let out a howl of pain and there was a flash of golden light on the back of his left hand. The same trio of triangles that were on Shirou's hand appeared in golden light, the bottom left triangle outshining the other two.

The dark energy suddenly enveloped Link and his form shifted. He dropped to all fours and the shadows fell away to reveal a large wolf with black and silver fur. When the hound opened his eyes, they were the same intelligent blue of Link's own orbs.

The wolf rose to its feet and locked eyes with Caster. Then it began to growl.

"Oh, come on," Caster complained, growing visibly annoyed. "How is that fair?"

Another figure dropped from the roof of the temple and made its way to Caster.

"I apologize for being late, Caster," the figure said, his voice masculine and accented. Was it Italian? "I was busy securing our Master."

The figure wore white robes and a short, white cape draped over his left shoulder. The underside of the cape was a bright red, as was a strip of cloth around his torso with an elegant metal armor piece with an unfamiliar emblem upon it. A menacing, white hood hid most of his face and his arms were covered by a pair of bracers. A sword hung at the man's side, though it was currently sheathed.

Caster waved a dismissive hand in the wolf's direction. "Deal with the mutt, Assassin. Apparently the Saber classes' anti-magic is more annoying with this one. Kill him and go guard the gate. If this Servant showed up, others are probably on the way."

The Assassin nodded and turned toward Link, drawing his sword as he moved. Link let out a howl of defiance and pounced at the white robed man. The Assassin dodged effortlessly and Link spun as he landed, growling. One of his ears perked and he suddenly took off, away from the other Servants. Assassin cursed and chased after him.

Caster turned her attention back to the still bound Shirou.

"Well," she said, regaining her composure. "It's been nice and exciting, but I think we've chatted for long enough." She leaned in close and spoke into Shirou's ear, as if she were whispering an intimate secret. "Now, let's get those Command Seals off."

"You want to take my Command Seals?" Shirou asked.

Caster ran her finger down Shirou's arm to the back of his left hand. Shirou was disturbed by how gentle and enticing the motion felt, which was exactly the wrong thing to be thinking about at that moment.

"That's right," she answered, gripping Shirou's chin with her other hand and leaning in close. "I will transplant them into my Master. Then he will have control of both Sabers and they can deal with that nuisance of a Berserker." Then she added, almost like an afterthought. "Oh and, by the way, removing Command Seals also means extracting all your magic circuits."

She pulled away and Shirou continued to struggle in vain. Caster bent her hand and Shirou's left arm lifted against his will. She raised her hand as purple light began to glow from her fingers. She tapped Shirou's Primary Command Seals. Apparently she either wanted Saber first, or else she could extract both sets with only one point of contact. Shirou bent his entire will into trying to break free.

"That's a good boy," Caster said, noticing Shirou's resistance. "I do enjoy it more when you put up a good struggle."

The light became more intense and Shirou began to scream. His arm began to spasm despite the restraining threads. It hurt. It hurt so much, and all Shirou could do was scream.

There was a humming in the air and then dozens upon dozens of glowing red arrows rained down from the sky. Caster glanced up and then leapt away as the arrows landed all around Shirou and her previous position.

After a moment, the arrows faded away and a voice called out.

"Hmp," it said. "I expected to find you long dead, but you seem to have more pluck than I'd thought."

Shirou flicked his eyes toward the source of the voice, and saw a man wearing red and black, holding a bow on top of one of temple building roofs.

"Archer?" Shirou asked. "Why are you here?"

The black bow vanished and Archer leapt from the roof and landed between Shirou and Caster.

"Oh, I was restless and just happened to be in the neighborhood," Archer answered, as if had simply been passing Shirou on the street. "So, how is your body feeling? My arrows should've severed all of Casters magic threads."

Shirou started and realized that he could move again. He pulled his hand back and said, "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good for you," Archer said disdainfully. "As much as I'd like to say: 'Do whatever the Hell you want,' I suggest you stay where you are for now. Try not to move without thinking first."

Caster was finally moved into agitated speech. "What is with the constant interruptions? How did the Archer get through?!" She turned her gaze, not to where Link and had lead Assassin off to, but toward the entrance of the temple. "Damnit! That Assassin! What the Hell is he doing out there?"

"You see?" Archer said. "She will take the full force of her anger out on you. A woman's fury is a difficult thing to control." Archer turned to face Caster. "Ah, damn," he said with a growing smile. "I think things are about to get rather violent."

 **Author's note: Shorter chapter today, but nice and action-packed. Guess who's finally recovered and ready for some action? And, on top of that, we have a new Secondary Servant reveal! I'm not going to say his name, but those of you who know him will recognize him instantly, while those of you who don't will get a proper introduction soon enough. But, I will say that someone in the reviews correctly guessed who my Assassin was. :)**

 **As a side note, HOLY CRAP did my view count suddenly jump over the last few days. I can't begin to explain how happy I am that so many of you are enjoying this story.**

 **Also, I'm thinking about my post schedule and I'm leaning toward going back to two posts a week. As much as I want to work on my RWBY content, I'm still struggling on switching between worlds. So keep an eye out on Wednesday to see what I decide.**

 **One last point before I go. I've updated my Servant information on my profile to include voice actor information. These are either the actors who voice these characters, or the VAs that I would personally select to give life to the characters I have called into this war. Be sure to check them out!**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 _Tonight, you fight for me and my pleasure. For I am the forgotten deity, known as Kul'vill. And you will dance before me, and between you all one victor shall stand and gain my blessing._ \- Matthew Mercer, Critical Role

Saber sensed that something was wrong. Her eyes snapped open, tiredness a mostly foreign concept to the Heroic Spirit. Her primary reason for sleep was to conserve and slowly restore her mana.

Saber rose from her sleeping position and glanced around the room. Taiga was asleep on the futon next to hers and hadn't woken from Saber's movement. Sakura was asleep as well, her breathing quiet and peaceful. Her eyes moved around under their lids, likely the result of a dream.

Saber quietly rose to her feet and quickly got dressed before making her way to Shirou's room. It was empty, and the bed was unused. She made her way back to the shed where she'd last seen Shirou.

She opened the door and found it devoid of human life. She could sense and see, however, the thin strands of magical energy that that criss-crossed the room from the window.

"Shirou," she said and spun her eyes tracking the threads and saw every strand stretching its way toward the mountains.

Saber's eyes narrowed and she set off toward the temple, her clothes vanishing to be replaced with her armor. She leapt from rooftop to rooftop as fast as she could.

She hadn't sensed Link's presence in the compound, so he was likely gone. Hopefully he was with Shirou, helping get her Master out of whatever mess he'd found himself in. If he wasn't, then the first casualty of the war was going to be Link. Saber idly wondered if the Grail's bizarre new rules would even allow her to kill her partner Servant.

If Link was missing again, she was going to find out one way or another.

* * *

Ryuudou temple was a surprisingly defendable location. As far as Saber could tell, there was only one direct path leading to the temple itself, and that stairway was wide enough to fight in, but narrow enough to limit the number of individuals who could climb the stairs. There rest of the area past the street was covered in thick foliage that would be difficult to move through.

Saber examined the base of the stairway, sensing a bounded field. She reached out with a hand and a force repelled her limb in a small, painful burst of power.

"A bounded field that repels the very idea of Heroic Spirits?" she thought aloud. She hadn't even been aware that such a field could even exist. She might be able to force her way through the field, but the effort would probably cost her too much in both time and strength.

That meant the stairway was the only option, and it was risky in of itself. As the only established path, any serious defense would be placed there. But it wasn't like she had any other choice.

She made her way up the stairway and the gateway to the temple came into view. So did the figure standing in the path. Saber came to a stop, a single stretch of stairs between herself and the figure, her senses telling her what she'd been hoping to avoid.

Saber raised her sword, and said, "If I may ask, what class of Servant are you?"

The figure was tall and had long purple hair done up into a long tail. He wore flowing, light purple robes and a purple vest that matched his dark hair. A long katana was sheathed and slung over his back. He looked very much like a traditional samurai.

"I am Kojirou Sasaki, Assassin class Servant," the man said.

Saber inhaled in surprise. The Servant had simply named himself without any hesitation. But she didn't recognize him. Was he a Secondary Servant?

"It is only natural to name oneself before combat," Assassin continued.

"When an opponent does so, I am honor-bound to do the same," Saber said. "But, once I have you must withdraw. My name is-"

"No matter," Assassin said, cutting of Saber's introduction. He began to walk down the stairs. "My blade will tell me all I need to know of my enemy," he continued, drawing his katana from its sheath. "If you wish to pass through here, then you must force your way in."

"Did you not hear me?" she asked. "I asked you to withdraw, I have no business with you, Assassin."

"And did you not hear me when I said you had to force your way through?" Assassin countered. "If you do not hurry, your Master's life will surely be lost."

Saber narrowed her eyes and then charged forward. Once she got close, Assassin swung his katana with blinding speed, Saber blocking with her own, invisible blade. The force of his strike and the leverage he had with higher ground forced Saber down a few steps.

She moved forward again and Assassin struck again, using the katana's reach to engage her slightly farther away. They exchanged more blows and he steadily forced her down the stairway, never once losing the advantage of higher ground.

 _How can this be?_ she thought. _Weight, power, speed, I have the upper hand in every way. Why can I not break through?_

She moved forward again and the two warriors clashed. Assassin's strikes were impossibly precise and fast and his blade was there to meet hers at every swing. His style was different from what she was used to as well, but not so different that she couldn't stop his own counter strikes.

He swung his sword to attack and she seized his blade with one hand. It wasn't as impossible as an observer would think. It took more than the sharpness of a blade to cut, though it certainly helped.

What actually caused a cut to occur was motion. Knights, like Saber, were taught a technique called "half-swording", where they would hold a sword by its blade and swing the weapon like an improvised hammer, using the hilt and cross-guard of the sword as a bludgeoning weapon.

It was a technique used against knights in heavy armor, where bludgeoning was more effective than slashing. The trick to half-swording was in the way a knight gripped the blade, holding it firmly enough to prevent the steel from sliding with the impact and cutting into the knight's hand.

Like any knight, Saber had been taught this skill. She employed part of the half-swording technique as she grabbed Assassin's blade, gripping the rippled steel of Assassin's sword with her hand folded around the blade and holding it steady. Then she pulled the weapon aside with simple brute strength and raised her own sword to stab at Assassin.

Kojirou Sasaki let go of his sword with his left hand and slammed it into the base of his weapon's hilt, forcing the razor sharp edge of the katana to slide and slice into Saber's hand.

The pain forced her to let go and move back, and Assassin returned his left hand to his weapon then slashed out and forcing Saber back again. Assassin was more than simply skilled, he was also ambidextrous with his sword play.

"Very impressive," Assassin said. "I should've removed your head seven times, but it remains attached to your body. It seems Western swordplay is more than flailing about."

"You're impressive for a man of such slight build," Saber said. "If nothing else, you are a master of cunning tricks."

"Well now, you have the edge in both strength and spirit. That leaves me with only my whiles with which to defeat you. But I may know the length of your invisible sword now."

Saber grimaced. _From just that first exchange?_ she thought. _This Servant surpasses me that greatly in sword technique?_

"Now let us continue," Assassin said. "Show me what you are really capable of, Saber."

Saber let out a breath of frustration and brought her sword up again. _Shirou,_ she thought. _Hold on._

There was an explosion from behind Assassin, and Saber glanced over his shoulder. Assassin raised his sword and surged forward the instant her eyes left him. Her eyes snapped back to Assassin and she shifted her sword to block, but the move was imperfect.

Assassin's blade nicked her neck, but she prevented him from taking her head off. She forced his sword aside and gave him a frustrated look. Assassin's own expression one of bemusement. He was clearly enjoying the exchange.

Saber fell back slightly and reengaged with Assassin. The sounds of explosions and shouts rolling down the stairway like ocean waves. She continued her onslaught, but Assassin held his ground. Every ploy she tried he countered, every gamble he stopped. He was an implacable foe and relentless guardian. He wasn't going to let her through.

Saber was forced back down to the nearest landing and Assassin stood several steps above her, waiting for her to close in and engage once again.

Then there a scream and a near deafening blast, a beam a blue light shooting off into the night sky. Saber and Assassin both paused to watch the light streak by.

"It seems my Master could not defeat the opponent as planned," Assassin said, gazing away from Saber. He turned his attention back to her. "My own Master is in peril, so I no longer have the luxury of concealing my true skill. Even now you will not reveal your Noble Phantasm?" Saber gave him a hard look. "Your Master is a novice, so you must be counting on the strength of his luck to win. Your faith is admirable. Half-hearted measures from me will not put a dent in that."

Saber gave Assassin a surprised look as he made his way down the stairs that separated them until he was level with her on the landing.

"However that simply won't do," he continued.

"You yield the advantage of higher ground?" she asked. "What are you playing at?"

"Although I may not be well-known," Assassin said, ignoring Saber's question. "I devoted my life to the sword. If you insist on not showing your strength, I'll take you belief and break it open with brute force." The playfulness in Assassin's voice, which had been there since the beginning, finally dropped. For the first time, Assassin looked completely serious.

Assassin lifted his weapon.

"Ultimate," he said and Saber suddenly felt the sword slice through her neck, arm, and waist. The phantom sensation passed and her mind processed what her instincts were telling her.

She released the Sheath of the Wind King, allowing her sword to reveal its brilliant, golden light.

"Swallow Reversal," Assassin said.

 _Too late,_ Saber thought. She saw the moonlight reflecting off of katana of Assassin, and then there were three separate and distinct blades slashing through the air towards her.

Saber launched herself down the stairs, placing as much steel between herself and those blades as possible. Her armor and sword absorbed most of the impacts and she managed to land on the next landing, rotate and bring herself up and ready for another attack.

Assassin stood where she'd been standing not a moment ago, gazing down at her with the same serious expression on his face.

"Very impressive," he said. "You dodged well." Saber simply stood there, watching him for any sign of movement. "It is not all that special as tricks go. It is simply something I mastered one day when I had the thought to slay a sparrow.

"A flying sparrow cannot be snared by my sword, which is but a single line. But with two or three lines attacking, that changes matters entirely. However, they are swift little things, to accomplish the feat once must repeatedly strike within time of a single breath. That is beyond the ability of ordinary men."

Assassin lifted his sword and let a falling leaf land on its sharpened edge. The gentle force of the leaf's descent was more than enough force for it to be cut in two. "But I had nothing else to do but to practice and master the skill. In other words, I achieved a goal I had wished for."

He lifted and rotated the sword and turned his gaze on Saber. "I used the technique without knowing it."

 _Repeatedly strike within the space of a single breath?_ Saber thought. _That is_ not _what that was. They were at exactly the same time. In that instant, three swords existed. It is hard to believe, but that was…_

"A dimensional refraction effect," she finished out loud. _How does a Servant with only sword skills get a Noble Phantasm without employing any magic at all?_

Something fell from the top of the stairs and onto a landing behind Assassin. The figure was covered in blood and let out grunts of pain while it struggled to even move. It was Shirou.

"Shirou!" Saber called and ran past Assassin to her Master.

"I guess that damn vixen retreated," Assassin muttered as she passed.

Shirou managed to stand up. "Saber," he said and fell forward again. Saber caught him in her arms and then glanced over her shoulder. If Assassin was moving to attack, she would have to shield Shirou with her body until they could get out.

But Assassin was sheathing his sword, not even looking at Saber.

"Assassin," she said. "Why did you not strike me down just now?"

"I was… captivated, I suppose," he answered. "You were attractive when you were fighting, but your concern is an exquisite sight. And so, you caught my eye, Saber."

He stepped to one side and gestured with his hand down the stairs. "That is enough fighting for tonight," he said. "You may both leave."

"So, you are letting us go?" Saber asked.

"I am indeed. Finding a worthy opponent is a rare thing. I could not bring myself to defeat if you were not in peak form. Or do you consider this a debt, Saber?"

"Yes, of course, Kojirou Sasaki," Saber said. "Please forgive me. You are an opponent worthy of my full attention." Assassin smiled. "Rest assured," Saber continued. "I will settle matters with you, regardless of the outcome of the Holy Grail war. I swear it."

Assassin's expression suddenly became serious and Saber glanced up in time to see Archer falling toward them, twin swords in hand and lethal intent pouring from him.

Saber had had many reasons to curse the unnatural grace and speed of Assassin, but in that moment she could only bless it. The samurai's long katana lashed out intercepted Archer's attack, forcing Archer back up the stairs.

"You would stand in my way, samurai?" Archer asked.

"You took the words out of my mouth," Assassin replied, his form crouched before Saber and Shirou. "I said that they may leave, will you make a liar of me? My only duty is to stand watch at this gate. I allowed entry, but leaving is something else. Your head lacks elegance, but I shall satisfy myself by claiming it tonight."

Shirou stirred in Saber's arms and shifted to look at Archer.

"You really think you can defeat me, Caster's lackey?" Archer asked.

"I could ask the same," Assassin asked, rising to his feet. "I let you in there in order to give the vixen a bit of a healthy scare, so imagine my disappointment to see you flee for your own life."

Archer replied by spinning his blades in his hands and shooting forward to attack. Assassin moved as Archer did and their weapons and bodies became a blur of sparks, motion, and destruction.

"Let's leave while we can," Saber said. Shirou simply stood there, staring intently at the battle taking place. Until Saber tugged him down the stairs and he followed. "Shirou," Saber said as they walked. "Where is Link?"

Shirou shook his head in confusion.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Saber heard a whine. She spun and saw a great black and silver furred wolf collapsed on the ground, mostly covered in blood. As Saber looked at the wolf, it opened its eyes and gave her a pleading look. The wolf's eyes matched Link's eyes.

"Link?" she asked in astonishment. The wolf's tail wagged slightly. Then it climbed to its feet and made its way to her. The wolf was favoring one of its legs, but was still able to move. "We have to get back to Shirou's house," she said. The wolf let out a low bark of acknowledgement.

It was tough, but Saber managed to carry Shirou back to his home, Link managing to keep pace with them.

The moment they crossed the threshold of the property, Harry ran out of the guest house he and Rin were staying in and over to them.

"Stars and stones," Harry said. "What the hell happened?"

Shirou had managed to regain his lucidity as they made their way back. "Caster pulled me to Ryuudou temple and turned Link into a wolf somehow. Then Archer showed up, let Caster get away and then tried to kill me."

"Archer?" Harry asked. "You mean the second one?"

"No," Saber said. "Rin's Archer."

Harry blinked in surprise. "I'm going to go get Rin," he said. "You get Shirou patched up while we work on Link. Then you can explain what happened."

* * *

 **Author's note: So I've decided to go back to posting twice a week. I love my RWBY fics, but they're stories worthy of my full attention. So unless I can get my characters to talk to me, I'm going to refocus on this story.**

 **This was actually one of my favorite chapters to write so far. Todd Haberkorn was the** _ **best**_ **person to voice Fake Assassin and I love the battle between him and Saber. It's not as flashy as other fights and depicts some pretty cool sword fighting in my opinion. That bit I added about half-swording is actually true as well. It's an actual European sword technique. Was it what Saber was actually doing in the show? Who knows, but it looked close enough for me to get really excited and add that bit in.**

 **Also one of my favorite chapter quotes so far. Matthew Mercer is a major inspiration for my writing. I like vivid description and I hope that I do that in my own writing.**

 **This chapter also goes to show that just because a Secondary Servant is a grade A badass in his own world doesn't mean he's going to have the same advantage in this one. Link's lucky to have survived that fight.**

 **Zane: I appreciate your zeal, but let's try not to be rude. It takes a lot of courage to post a review, especially when it's clear that the author is reading and responding to them. As much as I would like more reviews I certainly don't want to feel like I'm forcing them.  
** **Also, don't forget my original author's note. Story changes are present and will definitely come into play, but don't forget the original story and the character mindsets revealed in them.**

 **I'd also like to give a big thank you to everyone who's been reading this story. The view count is officially over 10,000. My mind is absolutely blown by that number. I can't even wrap my brain around the number the people who have read this story. Thank you. Thank you so much!**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 _How many beads can you move?_ \- Harry Dresden, White Night

"You really shouldn't be so angry at Assassin, Caster," Archer said. "He is facing Saber after all. I don't know who that samurai is, but he is a master swordsman able to hold Saber at bay. Shouldn't you be complimenting him?"

"Surely you're joking," Caster replied. "I could hardly call him a hero if he could not stop the likes of you. That man lacks the necessary skills to call himself a master swordsman."

 _Saber is here?_ Shirou thought.

Archer grew thoughtful. "From the way you talk, it appears that your Masters are actually working together."

"Wait, they're allies?" Shirou asked.

"Yes," Archer answered. "Assassin stays outside and guards the gate, while Caster lurks within. Add the secondary Servants into the equation and this temple is probably one of the most secure buildings in the city. Isn't it obvious that these two are working in league? It's not particularly unusual. For example, you and Rin have joined forces."

Caster began to laugh. "How ridiculous. Me working with those dogs? The Assassins, who're nothing more to me than my pawns?"

"Your pawns?" Archer asked.

"Yes," Caster said. "You see those lowly dogs are here fighting for me, but are without a Master."

"What?" Shirou asked.

"Caster, how could you?" Archer demanded. "You broke the rules."

"Hmp. What's wrong with a mage like me summoning a Servant of my own to do my bidding? And with these new Servants, courtesy of the Second Sorcery, I got two sets of hands for the price of one. The Grail gave me my second Servant just like all the rest, so it clearly doesn't care about that so called rule."

"So Caster summoned Assassin herself? Are you saying that a summoned Servant summoned another Servant?"

"That gatekeeper out there who wasn't summoned by a proper Master is not the true Assassin. She ignored the rules and summoned an Assassin class Servant on her own. She made this her home and harvests souls from the people in the city. She herself doesn't fight, but monitors the battle from eyes placed around town. Saber and the other two knight classes are resistant to magic. It's only natural for a magic user like yourself to resort to underhanded tactics. But you managed to do all this without your Master's consent, didn't you?"

Caster giggled in pleasure as Archer spoke. "And what makes you say that?" she asked.

"Masters are mages. If one summons a mage more powerful than himself, he would be on guard even with Command Seals. Given that, it's difficult to believe that a Master would allow you to summon a Servant that obeys _you_. In which case, like the simpleton behind me, I imagine you've made him into nothing more than a useful puppet."

Shirou gave Archer an annoyed look and crossed his arms.

"It will be a simple matter to win the Holy Grail war," Caster said. "My considerable efforts are being directed to what will come _after_ the war is won."

"Oh? Defeating us is a simple matter you say? Coming from a witch who slinks around in the shadows?"

Caster's face twisted into a hateful expression. "Yes," she said. "You see you cannot so much as scratch me while I'm inside this place. For those who call me a _witch_ I'll hand them befitting punishments."

Shirou tensed at the change in Caster's voice.

"Oh really?" Archer asked. "Not even a scratch you say? Let's see if I can make one then." Archer smiled as he spoke. "If that is not enough, I will leave you to Saber."

Then he charged forward, his twin swords materializing as he ran. A sigil appeared before Caster and a metal staff with a wide, round head appeared in her hand. But she was too slow.

Archer was on her in an instant and with two quick slashes he was behind her as she crumpled to the ground. Her form faded away into darkness. Shirou stood there, dumbstruck.

That was… too easy. She'd somehow been able to dodge Link's strikes, but not Archer's?

"A very good try, Archer," Caster said. Shirou's gaze shot upward and he saw Caster floating in the air, her cloak spread like wings and with glowing, purple and orange designs across it. Multiple circles of violet light appeared before her, shedding brilliant light before her.

The centermost circle blasted a beam of light at Archer, who lifted his swords in a defensive posture. The impact forced him back, but his footing remained firm and the beam stopped a moment later.

"Teleportation, or innate time control?" he asked. "So within these walls you can imitate true magic."

Shirou, who had been blasted off his feet by the blast, stayed in his prone position and gazed fearfully at the display from Caster. It was another sobering demonstration of what high-end mages could truly do.

"I'm impressed, Caster," Archer said with a smirk.

"And I think less of you, Archer," Caster replied, mockingly. "I thought you might be useful to me, but you are even worse than Assassin."

"I'm quite sorry to hear it," Archer batted back. "If I get another chance I'll try not to disappoint you." He flipped backward just as Caster fired again, the blast missing him and creating a powerful detonation.

Archer landed and launched himself onto a roof, before leaping into the air, away from another powerful blast.

With a shout, Caster unleashed several more beams at Archer's form. He evaded some and used his sword to keep another one back as he started to descend from his leap.

"Damn that witch," he said. "She has a huge store of mana to draw upon."

He landed on his feet and bolted for the gate out of the temple grounds, evading beams as he ran. A beam of power cut across his path, forcing him to stop.

"You think you can escape from here?" Caster taunted and continued to fire.

Shirou rose to his feet and turned his gaze on the flying witch. He had to do something, but what? Caster turned her head slightly, as if sensing his gaze, and smiled as another circle appeared behind her. It was pointing directly at Shirou.

"Oh, crap!" Shirou said as the circle released a bolt of energy at him. Shirou wasn't exactly sure what happened next. One moment he was trying to move away from the impact zone of Caster's spell, the next he was being dangled by his shirt from one of the nearby roofs by Archer.

"Hey, put me down you jerk! What are you thinking?!" Shirou demanded.

"Hell if I know," Archer replied, his tone annoyed. "When you say that, your excessive stupidity hurts my head you idiot."

"Idiot?" Shirou repeated, starting to thrash around in irritation. "You know, you're the idiot around here, and you call _me_ an idiot? Well that makes you even more of an idiot, idiot." He hadn't needed Archer's help, and that fact that the Servant had saved him simply irritated him to no end. He wasn't someone who needed to be saved.

"What, are you brat now?" Archer snapped rotating Shirou around so that they could argue face to face. "I can no longer deal with an idiot _and_ brat like you. At least decide on one, numbskull."

"What did you say to me?" Shirou demanded. He was so focused on his argument that he didn't even notice that Caster was hovering in the air in a direct line behind Archer and that the spell circles she'd been firing from had reappeared.

Archer leapt into the air a split second before Caster fired, dragging Shirou through the air with him. Archer spun around and summoned a sword to intercept one blast that was heading straight for them, before rotating again for their landing.

"Put me down, damnit!" Shirou shouted. "I can handle this myself!"

"Alright," Archer said, letting Shirou go, rotating and kicking him away. Shirou landed on his side and skid along the stone ground while Archer landed on his feet, facing toward Caster.

"You son of-" Shirou started to shout, but stopped when he saw the distortion around Archer's form.

A dome had appeared around Archer, and the Servant simply stood there, unmoving.

"How does that feel, Archer?" Caster asked. "Even those heroes of the three knight classes cannot move if space itself has been immobilized around them." She sounded quite pleased with herself. "So this would appear to be checkmate. I don't know which land's hero you were, but this is goodbye."

Shirou saw Archer's lips moving, but couldn't make out what he was saying. Apparently, neither could Caster because she spoke up again.

"What was that you said, Archer?" she asked gleefully. "If you wish to beg for your life I-"

"Imbecile!" Archer shouted. "I said: Dodge this, Caster!"

Archer's twin swords, which had been conspicuously missing while he manhandled Shirou, dropped spinning from the sky and fell directly toward her head. She swung her staff and managed to knock the weapons away.

The dome around Archer burst as Caster's concentration broke and the Heroic Spirit could move again. He caught the spinning swords in his hands and glared at Caster.

The woman turned and raised her hand and unleashed a bolt of power at Archer, but he was already moving. His swords vanished and he spun out of the way of another bolt of energy as his bow appeared in his hand, a different weapon that resembled a drill head in the other.

"Amazing," Shirou said. Archer landed with his feet spread, his hand already placing the weapon to the string of his bow and drawing back. The weapon thinned into an arrow as Archer drew back his bow.

" _I am the bone of my sword,_ " Archer said with the deliberate rhythm of ritual. Air and energy rushed past Shirou toward Archer as he took aim with his bow. The arrow began to glow bright blue and Archer spoke once more. " _ **Caladbolg!**_ " Then he released the arrow.

The arrow shot from the bow in a burst and spun through the air directly toward Caster. A glyph materialized before the witch and the arrow went straight through the spell like it wasn't even there. Caster screamed as the arrow impacted and unleashed a bolt of force that lanced out into the night sky.

Caster lay panting and moaning on the ground, her clothes partly shredded and a pool of blood around her. Shirou stood by Archer, staring at the witch in amazement, both at the sheer power of the attack and at the fact that Caster had even survived.

"Archer," Caster said. "Why… Why do you not finish me off?"

"I said I would make _one_ scratch," Archer replied. Caster let out a groan and her clothes and injuries sealed and repaired themselves. Her breathing evened out and she regained her composure.

"So you do not intend to kill me then?" Caster asked.

"My objective here was to protect this boy from you," Archer answered. "My policy is to avoid unnecessary fighting."

"Hey," Shirou said as Caster began to laugh.

"I see," she said. "You and the boy must be birds of a feather then."

"Huh?" Shirou and Archer asked at the same time.

Caster rose to her feet. "That boy cannot abide Servants like me who feed on irrelevant people or that stray from his naive sense of morality, and you simply do not care for senseless slaughter. You see, you are completely alike."

"How am I anything like this stupid jerk?" Shirou demanded.

"Yes, I agree," Archer confirmed, crossing his arms. "I admit we are both pacifists, but we are fundamentally different from each other."

"You're a pacifist, my ass," Shirou said to Archer. "Any time you've been near me I feel like someone about to try and stab me. Don't think I didn't notice you watching me every since you recovered."

The sense of hostility had made the last day almost unbearable. Shirou wasn't sure if Rin knew that Archer had been back in fighting condition or not, but she hadn't mentioned anything to him.

"You surely can't expect me to help everything that might need saving," Archer said. "If I thought that way, then even Berserker, who nearly killed you, would be someone to save."

Shirou turned away in outrage and Caster burst out laughing again.

"I like you two," Caster said. "Your powers and existences are both unique and interesting."

"Huh?" Shirou asked.

"Join forces with me," she said. "I have a strategy that will put an end to this Grail war quickly."

"No," Shirou said. "Never. There's no way I'd ever work with people like you." Silence followed and Shirou looked at Archer. "Hey, Archer, come on!"

"I'll pass," he said after a moment. "Your team has very limited fighting potential. No matter how much power you gain, it won't be enough to beat Berserker. What you offer isn't enough to ally myself with you."

"I see," Caster said. "Negotiations have broken down then."

"Yes," Archer said. "Besides, I decided to come here on my own initiative. My Master did not send me, so I have no reason to kill you. Shall we call this a draw on account of injury?"

"Hey!" Shirou objected.

"I'm surprised," Caster said. "Your partner Servant has been actively disrupting me, hasn't he? Yet you would simply let me go, just like that?"

"Yes," Archer said. "It is really no concern of mine how many people you end up killing here."

"Oh," Caster said. "What a terrible man you are." Then her cloak spread like wings and she took off into the night air.

"Wait a minute!" Shirou demanded running forward. "Stop!"

Caster hung in the air for a moment, then dispersed into a collection of purple glowing butterflies and faded away.

"Why the Hell did you let Caster go?" Shirou demanded.

"Even if I had tried to strike her down just now, she would've made her escape anyway," Archer answered. "To defeat Caster, we must get to her Master."

"Yeah, but she's the one behind all the people in comas right now. Until we stop her, victims are gonna keep piling up."

"On the contrary, I want her to continue for a while longer." Shirou spun to face Archer, shock on his face. "Caster will go on draining people of their lifeforce, and will use that power to defeat Berserker. Then, after she's done that, we take Caster out."

"Tohsaka would never agree with that plan! And neither would Harry!"

"You're right, they wouldn't. Which is why I want Caster to settle things quickly. I don't know how many will have to die, but humans are mortal creatures after all. No matter how, or at whose hands, death comes, it's all the same."

Clouds rolled in and covered the moon, throwing the temple into deeper darkness as Archer continued. "Caster is a softie. She should just go and drain their lives completely. If everyone in the city were to die, it would be much easier to fight."

"Damn you!" Shirou shouted and charged forward, throwing a punch. Archer calmly caught the strike, twisted Shirou's arm and shoved him past.

"I thought you and I were operating under an alliance," Archer said.

"That's a load of crap!" Shirou shouted. "I'm not doing that! Like I would even think of sacrificing the lives of everyone around me in order to achieve some personal victory."

"I feel exactly the same way, Shirou Emiya," Archer said, his voice cold. "But it's not possible to save every last person. If Caster were to get control of the Grail, the damage would not be limited to this city. If we don't win this war, the damage will affect everywhere. Therefore, the only choice is to sacrifice the people of this city. If we can keep the overall losses low as a result, it's the same as your strategy, isn't it?"

Kiritsugu's words, spoken in reply to a demand to know why he hadn't saved everyone ten years ago, came back to Shirou and he grimaced. _Choosing to save someone means choosing not to save another._

"You said you didn't want to get irrelevant people involved," Archer continued. "Then admit it. If you try to avoid killing anyone, you won't save anyone in the end."

Shirou turned to face Archer, who still hadn't turned to face Shirou. As Shirou stepped forward, Archer turned and lifted his arm, barring Shirou's path.

"Do you plan to go after Caster?" Archer asked. "To waste your life after I've saved it?"

"Bite me!" Shirou shouted. "To Hell with your help! Even if you offered it now, I wouldn't take it!"

"Well," Archer said. "You not liking me makes this easier." He lowered his arm.

Shirou stalked past him. He was several steps away when his instincts screamed at him. Shirou spun and saw Archer swinging at him with one of his two swords. Shirou reflexively turned to run and the cold steel slashed down his back.

Shirou saw a cloudy sky and a lonely, desolate hill with a man standing atop it. He saw a sphere of black and shining blue and then the desolate hill was covered with swords stabbed into the ground.

Shirou slamming into the ground brought him back to reality. He immediately began to crawl away from Archer.

"If you've no will to fight, then die here and now," Archer said. Shirou suddenly realized that he'd somehow managed to crawl a moderate distance away from where Archer had slashed him.

Archer walked slowly after him, clearly not in any rush. "Spending your life fighting for others and not yourself is nothing but hypocrisy," Archer continued. "Peace is what your desire is, not victory. Even though there's no such thing in this world and there never has been."

Shirou had managed to reach the temple gate now and struggled to his feet. He looked over his shoulder at Archer. "What did you say?" he asked, weakly but with heat.

"Goodbye, Shirou," Archer said. "Drown in your ideals and die." Archer slashed with a sword and Shirou pushed himself away on a loose stone, casting himself down the stairs from the temple.

* * *

"I see," Saber said as Shirou finished telling her the particulars of his encounter with Caster and Archer. She finished wrapping Shirou's torso in bandages. "And Archer actually allowed Caster to escape?"

"Yeah, can you believe it?" Shirou asked. Saber made her way to the medical kit she'd been using and began putting materials away. "That guy is the worst. A real son of a bitch. If you ask me, he's no better than Caster if he's willing to exploit someone like her to win." Saber made a sound that was suspiciously similar to a giggle and smiled at Shirou. Shirou eyed her. "Why are you smiling like that?" he asked.

"Because," she said. "It is extremely rare to hear you speak ill of someone in that manner. But Shirou, aren't you angry at Archer for breaking the alliance and attacking you like he did?"

Shirou opened his mouth to respond, then paused and thought for a moment. "No, not at all," he answered. "It's Tohsaka I'm allies with, not Archer. So actually, there was no alliance for him to betray." Shirou glanced down. "But, I'd probably feel differently if Harry had done what Archer did tonight."

"What do you mean?" Saber asked, confused.

Shirou tapped his fingers nervously against the floor. "Saber," he said carefully. "Have you… spoken to Harry since he and Tohsaka moved in?"

Saber shook her head. "Not really," she admitted. "Only when we've been in polite conversation around Sakura or Taiga. Why do you ask Shirou?"

"I don't know," Shirou admitted. "He and I spoke before I fell asleep earlier. We were swapping questions and…" He stopped to think about his words. "Have you ever met someone and just thought: 'They get it. This person understands something without anything needing to be said?'"

Saber grew thoughtful. "No," she admitted. "I don't think I have." Shirou shook his head.

"I don't think I'm saying it right," he said.

"No," Saber said. "I think I know what you mean. I just can't think of anyone." Silence fell around them. "Caster is an enemy who must never run free, but I do not believe that Archer is nefarious."

"Wait, hang on a second," Shirou said. "Didn't you hear a single word I said? The guy's no good."

"You saw it, didn't you Shirou?" Saber asked. "His technique was as pure as a clear stream. His heart must be as equally pure."

"Huh," Shirou said. "He's really not that great with a sword, you know. The guy tried to attack me from behind and failed to kill me."

"Yes," Saber said. "This means you have an aptitude for it. Given enough time and effort, you should be able to reach his level."

Shirou thought for a moment, then spoke up again. "I've made up my mind." He made his way over to Saber and grasped her hand with his. Saber looked shocked as Shirou spoke. "Saber, once I'm healed, teach me how to use a sword. Not as exercise, but how to fight."

"Yes," Saber said after a moment. "If that is what you want, Shirou."

"That settles it then."

* * *

 **Author's note: Another fun chapter. I really like working with the Unlimited Blade Works content. I like both anime series, but UBW told certain elements of the story so much better than the Stay/Night anime.**

 **Argh, I can't wait for Wednesday! One my favorite things I've ever written is coming up and I can't wait for the reactions! Because it's been 20-something chapters I want to remind everyone of something. I will not hold back on potential spoilers for any of the fandoms I've indulged in. I will make use of every trick and event based around those characters.**

 **Zane: Oh if you think Archer acts like an idiot, then you don't have a clue what kind of stupidity Dresden gets into on a regular basis. :)**

 **OmniRorek: Oh, I'm fairly certain you and this story are going to get along just fine. A large part of the development process for this story was creating the secondary Servants. If you taste runs anything like mine, you're going to love this. :) But I guess we'll see. Thanks for joining us on this adventure.**

 **Not much else really to say here. The chapter is pretty straightforward. Well except for how much fun it is to have both Harry Dresden and Shirou Emiya hanging out together. I swear, those two are peas in a pod.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 _If the eyes are the window to the soul, then wizards are the soul's voyeurs._ \- Harry Dresden, Turn Coat

It took Harry and Rin an hour before they could undo the curse on Link. Amazingly, Link's body was completely uninjured when they laid him out and examined him.

"It looks like Saber isn't the only one with regenerative abilities," Rin commented as she ran her hand through the enormous wolf's blood stained fur. Link's tail wagged.

"So," Harry said. "How do you think we should get fluffy here back to a state where he won't have to lift his leg to pee?" Link gave Harry a dry look. "Hey, you got yourself into this mess," Harry replied. "I am contractually _obligated_ to give you a hard time." Link rolled his eyes and gave a half-hearted growl.

"This appears to be an active spell," Rin said. "Link doesn't appear to have much in the way of magical energy. If we poured enough power into a counterspell, we should be able to break it without destroying Link."

Harry laid his left hand on Link's form and ran his hand through the fur as well. "This would make a wonderful coat," he commented. "There's probably enough to get a good set of gloves too."

"Dresden!" Rin snapped.

"What?" he asked. "I'm just saying if we end up blowing him into pieces we can have a practical use for his corpse."

Link snapped at him and Rin gave Harry a dry look. "He's a Heroic Spirit, Dresden. He'll just disappear."

"Oh," Harry said, seeming disappointed. Then his eyes glittered. "Do you think we'll have time to get his measurements for a line of plushies?"

"Harry!" Rin yelled and Caster raised his hands in defeat.

"Okay, okay. We can undo the spell now," he said.

"Thank you," Rin said. Then added after a moment's thought. "I think I could remember his measurements long enough to scale them for a stuffed animal. And I feel like scarves would be more popular than gloves. More opportunity to feel the smoothness of the fur."

"I like it," Harry said. "Split the profits 50/50?"

"80/20 my way. You're going to disappear when this is over, remember?"

"Damnit."

If Link's face could've been more expressive, it probably would be in an expression of 'kill-me-now.' Instead, he simply laid there, ignoring them both.

Harry had Rin hold his left hand with her right and she began to feed Harry power to fuel the disruptive spell. The working around Link was unusually potent, and Harry admitted concerns about regulating the counterspell's strength enough to avoid killing Link.

After an hour of combined spell effort, golden light suddenly shone and Link's form was surrounded by shadows which blew away in the wake of the golden light.

Rin blinked to clear her vision and saw Link, back in his humanoid form, his left hand stretched out and holding the hilt of his sword.

After a moment, he rose to his feet and sheathed the weapon. He nodded his thanks to Rin and Harry, then promptly slugged Harry in the jaw.

The wizard took it well and Rin burst out laughing. Link smirked and Harry grumbled good-naturedly.

"I will get you back for that," Link said and the three of them made their way to the dinning room for an explanation.

* * *

"So Caster has both Assassins," Harry said, after Link, Saber, and Shirou had shared their respective accounts of the night's battles. "And likely another secondary Servant in the wings somewhere."

"Archer," Rin muttered, her eyes narrowed in anger. Her primary Servant hadn't come to Shirou's home or responded to her inquiries. She was going to have some harsh words with him when she found him. _Very_ harsh words. _Binding_ words if it came to it.

"There is something else we need to discuss, Emiya," Rin said firmly, her irritation shifting to a more immediate problem. "Why didn't you get out of there when you had the chance? And from what you've said, you would've gone after Caster again without any support at all. Add to that your refusal to even summon your Servants for aid and it looks like you're actively trying to get yourself killed."

"But-" Shirou said.

"You need to start taking this war seriously, Emiya," Rin said, her voice getting sharper. "Even if you practice sword fighting, you still can't hold your own against a Servant. This is the third time you've nearly been killed you treat it like it's nothing at all!"

Everyone stared at Rin, in shock at the vehemence in her voice. Everyone, except Harry. "Rin," he said in a warning tone.

She rounded on Harry, fury in her eyes. "No!" she snapped, slamming her hands against the table in emphasis. "I will not let you talk me down this time. Shirou needs to get this through his thick head. I don't understand why you insist on encouraging this idiocy. He refuses to take this war seriously and he's only to get himself and people around him killed in the process."

She rounded on Shirou again and Harry spoke before she could continue. "Rin Tohsaka."

Rin shivered at the sensation that passed through her and she looked at Harry again. Some part of her tried to figure out why she was so angry. Shirou's stubborn refusal to accept common sense was certainly aggravating, and the fact that her _own_ Servant didn't seem to object was only making it worse. But there was something else, something she couldn't get a grip on, and that _definitely_ pissed her off.

Rin faced Harry and locked eyes with him in a menacing glare. Harry returned the intense look and-

Rin stood in a dark chamber. The air around her bit with intense cold, and she reflexively wrapped her hands around herself in an attempt to keep warm. Otherworldly shapes moved just out of her sight, and she shivered from more than just the temperature.

The chamber had no apparent floor or boundary, but she could see a man standing before her thanks to a sourceless green light.

The man was tall, well over 6 feet in height, and had dark, haunted eyes. He wore black. Dark pants that were torn and shredded, a black shirt that was burned and barely held together. The long, leather duster he wore was patched, stained, and full of holes. Despite the clearly casual nature of the clothing, he wore it with the same regality of funeral attire.

His skin was bruised, covered with cuts, and dark patches of what might have been frostbite covered what hadn't been injured. His chin had a scraggly beard covering it, and his hair was long, unwashed, and tangled. A silver pentacle hung around his neck, a red gem set in its center. The pentacle was dented and partly crushed, and the gem was slightly cracked.

His right hand held a long staff made of oak, runes and sigils carved along it glowing with green light. One side of the staff burned with silver fire chiming with the sound of bells, the other deep, dark flames that smelled of brimstone. The hand was also covered with dark, dried blood.

His legs, Rin suddenly realized, were also covered with a layer of nearly perfectly clear ice that pinned him into place. The fingers of his left hand were tipped with shards of ice like claws, and the palm had a strange symbol branded into it. A symbol that resembled an hourglass.

It was Harry. Rin couldn't believe it, but it was her Caster. But how was he still alive after the apparent abuse he'd been through? No one could survive that much damage.

Then she spotted doorways behind him. One was to a colonial home surrounded by green grass. An older man with a cane stood outside next to a woman of strong build and greying blonde hair. Children, young and old, moved and played around them and the couple smiled and laughed.

The other was to an apartment, with adults gathered around a table, speaking and gesturing excitedly, a baby girl resting in a crib nearby. A translucent figure stood beside the crib, watching the group with a smile.

Another was to a living room, a short, blonde woman sitting on a couch, cleaning a boxy machine gun. A pair of japanese swords were crossed over the fireplace mantle. There was a small smile on the woman's face as she worked. A large, battle scarred, grey tomcat hopped up onto the couch beside her and demanded her attention.

Another still was to another apartment. A tall, unbelievably attractive man with dark hair sat on a couch and embraced a woman with pure white hair. The man's eyes flashed silver for the briefest of moments and they kissed each other lovingly.

There were dozens of doorways behind her Caster, each revealing a person or group of people living their lives. But only one more caught her eye. One that was somehow closest and farthest away from the wizard.

A girl, a child no older than eight, with darker skin and dark eyes rose out of a bed and gazed through the doorway. "Do you want to be my dad?" she asked in a low voice.

Her Caster spun his staff and slammed it to the invisible ground with a deafening BOOM.

"I!" he declared, "am Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden! And I ask you: WHO'S NEXT?!"

Rin blinked her suddenly tear-filled eyes. She felt cold. Strength left her legs and she began to fall to the ground. Harry was suddenly at her side, catching her and supporting her.

"It's okay," he whispered into her ear. "It'll pass in a moment."

"I…" Rin said. "Harry?" she asked, and she realized that, for the first time, she spoke his name like an actual name, not just as something to refer to him as besides Caster.

Harry wrapped his arms around her, the arms of a warrior, of a father, of a person. "You need to rest. I promise we'll talk in the morning, okay?"

Rin nodded dully, trying to process what she'd just seen. What she'd felt. The intensity of that scene. She barely noticed the trek to her bedroom and being laid to bed. She barely noticed when she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Shirou demanded as Harry returned.

"We soul gazed," Harry said, sitting down at the table again.

"You what?" he asked, confusion cutting off his instinctive anger.

"We took stock of each other's soul," Harry said. "We got to look into the core of each other's being. Its… intense, and it's permanent."

"That's possible?" Shirou asked. Harry nodded.

"It is where I come from. Wizards can do it."

"Harry," Saber asked. "What exactly is involved with a soul gaze?"

The wizard sighed. "If someone looks a wizard in the eye for too long or too intently, they get an up close and personal look at his soul and the wizard gets to look at their's. And whatever they see is permanent. The memory won't fade with time. What you see stays as fresh as when you first saw it."

"So what happened to Tohsaka?" Shirou asked.

Harry grimaced slightly. "I've never had someone come out of a soul gaze with me that didn't look, well, overwhelmed. Given that it was her first time, I don't think she knew how to handle it."

"So what does this mean?" Link asked.

Harry shrugged. "I guess that depends on what she saw and what conclusions she draws from it. I'm fairly certain that it won't hurt her. She might look at me differently, but we won't know for certain until she wakes up."

Silence fell around them. Then Shirou addressed the elephant in the room.

"What did you see?" he asked slowly.

Harry closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "Doesn't that seem a bit personal, Shirou?" The boy's cheeks went red and he looked away.

"We should all get some sleep," Harry said. "It's been a long night." Then he rose and left.

* * *

Rin expected to have nightmares. Some instinct warned her that the night's rest was going to be bad, disturbed by horrific images and events.

What she experienced was not a nightmare. She knew she was dreaming. Her senses had that edge of unreality that she realized was part and parcel of a dreamscape.

She was sitting on one of three fallen logs placed around a burning campfire. A warm cup of tea was held between her hands and the warm of drink and flames kept the cold air away from her body. The flames of the fire also heated a camping kettle.

The campsite was surrounded by a forest, whose trees swayed and rustled with a breeze. The night's sky was full of more stars than Rin had ever seen before. She was clearly far away from any semblance of civilization.

A woman sat next to her, hands cupped around a tea cup of her own. She was taller than Rin and had long flowing blonde hair. She wore a greco-roman tunic and sandals and appeared to be completely relaxed.

"I was wondering when would be a good time for us to meet," the woman said, her voice oddly familiar to Rin. "This seemed to be as good a time as any. While your mind was adjusting to new ideas and perceptions."

"This is a dream," Rin said. "This isn't real."

The woman smiled. "True," she admitted. "But, this is as real as 'fake' can be. Your tea should be at the right temperature now, Miss Tohsaka."

Rin blinked in surprise. "How do you know who I am?"

"This is a dream, is it not?" the woman asked. "Why would you be surprised that I know your name?"

Rin's eyes narrowed. "I dislike games like this," she said. "Answer my question."

"So forceful," the woman said. Then she smiled again. "Then again, you'd hardly have summoned my host if you did not share _some_ qualities with him."

Rin let out a huff of irritation. "You still haven't answered me."

The woman's eyes glittered. "Perhaps," she said. "That is because you are asking the wrong question." She took a sip of her tea. Rin, with nothing better to do, took a sip of her own tea. She made a face.

"This is too cold," she complained.

"I did tell you when it was the right temperature," the woman said. "I suppose that this will be a lesson for you."

Rin grew annoyed. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Why does my own dream have to be so annoying?"

The woman smiled. "Ah, a good question. And an incorrect supposition. It is enough to start. To answer your question, Rin. I am called Lash. In address of your belief, I say that this is _not_ your dream."

"What?" Rin asked, completely taken off track. There was a far too disturbing howl in the forest around their campsite and Rin jumped despite herself. "What was that?" she asked.

"That," Lash replied. "was your dream, Rin. Your expectations were correct. This should not have been a restful night for you." She took another sip of her tea. "But, one as young as yourself should not be scarred by events not her own. That is one of the great tragedies of the Grail's Servants. Their Masters must see the minds and lives of those who have come before, regardless of what those experiences might show or do to their Masters."

Anger flashed in the woman's eyes. "Such damage should never reach those of your age. The Grail is cheapened by placing this burden on those so young."

Rin gave the woman a look. "Then where am I?" she asked.

"You are in between," Lash answered. "You are sleeping, but not quite dreaming. Unconscious, but not unaware. You are in that twilight between real and imagined, a place where dreams and nightmares are spawned."

"That's impossible," Rin said, bluntly.

Lash laughed, genuine mirth making her voice ring. "I was a part of the Deceiver, the Webweaver herself, child. I saw the birth of the world and the rise of humanity from nothing. I am a scholar of lore never known to the minds of mortals." She fixed Rin with a look. "'Impossible,' child, is a word mortals use to deny that which they cannot comprehend."

Rin slid back slightly on her seat. " _What_ are you?" she asked.

"I am a shadow," Lash answered. "I am a part that has become a new whole. I am a fragment redeemed. And you are about to wake up."

* * *

Rin's eyes snapped open and, for the first time… ever, she came out of her sleep into full cognizance. Normally, it took her forever to get out of bed and her body would rapidly wake up once she started moving. She had accepted long ago that she was not a morning person.

Today, however, she woke up fully rested and full of energy. Her eyes quested around and fell on Harry, who sat in a chair beside her bed.

"Hey, kid," he said.

"Good morning, Harry," Rin replied. It felt… odd to refer to him by his name. But simply calling him Caster was… underwhelming. The title lacked the sheer scope of what she'd seen. 'Caster' was so bland in comparison to the name he had declared so boldly in challenge in that shadowy chamber.

Harry noticed her hesitation. "I owe you an apology," he said slowly. "I didn't take your feelings into account last night. I assumed things that I shouldn't have and I've left you with a permanent mark as a result. I'm sorry."

Rin's cheeks turned bright red and she glanced away from the wizard. The memory of what she'd seen last night came back to her, crystal clear and unfaded from when she'd first seen it.

"I might have been assuming things too," she said, not looking at Dresden. "I didn't know."

"That's the tricky thing about a soul gaze. You get a close look, past all the masks and the bullshit we say to other people. It's not a lie detector, but it gives you good idea who a person really is."

"Then you're an idiot," Rin said. "You're the kind of man that makes a line in the sand and dares anyone to try and cross it. You're intense, but kind and caring. You don't let go of anything, even your regrets."

Harry's eyes grew shadowed for a moment, lost in a dark moment. Curiosity got the best of Rin. "What did you see?" she asked.

"That you're a good person," he answered. "You're rigid, organized, and won't tolerate imperfection in anything you think or do. That you care about people and you refuse to let go of or give up on them once you've accepted them into yourself, no matter how much they kick and scream as you pull them away from something harmful or stupid." Rin turned red again and buried her face in a pillow. Harry burst out laughing. "It's nothing to be ashamed of Rin. It's good that you care."

"A mage has to be someone who is callous and calculating," Rin said, muffled by her pillow. "It's how they survive and how they improve."

"Maybe that's how _they_ see it," Harry said. "But that also isolates them from what might make them happy. And it strips them of the right reasons to practice the Art. It needs to be more than just tradition. It's something you need to take into yourself and understand to the level of gut instinct. It needs to have a purpose to it, a drive that helps keep you centered. Otherwise it's just a pursuit of power, which tends to corrupt. A practitioner who cares is one who'll never stray so far down the path of corruption that they can't come back, while one that just pursues power gets taken by it and falls."

Rin let out a huff. "You are aggravating, Dresden. I never thought about this stuff before you showed up. You've completely ruined everything I've thought and believed my whole life in one lousy week."

Harry laughed and rose to his feet. "Go on and get dressed. We've still got an Archer to deal with. Yelling at him will help you feel normal."

 _He said 'we,'_ Rin thought. She felt… happy about that.

* * *

 **Author's note: A great song to listen to during this chapter is Graveyard by Midnight Syndicate. If you search Midnight Syndicate Graveyard on YouTube, you'll find it easily enough.**

 **Inspiration for this chapter comes from Rapidfyrez's story Remnant. It's a RWBY/Dresden Files crossover that is absolutely** _ **amazing**_ **(check out the up-to-date version of Spacebattles).**

 **I've been waiting to post this chapter for a long time. I'm kind of a purist when it comes to writing fanfictions like these. I like staying close to the source material, which is why I've never thought about writing something like this story before. There are some amazing Fate stories that intentionally choose to make their own path (Neoalfa's Path of the King is one incredible example. Please check out his work if you haven't already.) But even with my purist tendencies, I recognize and look for opportunities for the story to change and grow into something unique. This was one of those opportunities.**

 **Fate/Stay Night is a story based on relationships. The defining moment for a Fate/Stay Night timeline is a moment of intimacy. I feel like this is one such moment. Changes in the story will stem from this point. I hope I've done the soul gaze justice here and I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 _A weapon is a tool, and if it is beautiful, then it is beautiful because it is useful. A sword that could not fulfill its function would be ugly to my eyes no matter how fair its shape, not even if it were adorned with the finest jewels and the most intricate engraving._ \- Rhunön, Brisingr

Shirou stood on the top of a desolate hill. The sky was covered with grey clouds, like smoke, and the ground was as barren as any desert. A harsh wind picked up and blew dust into Shirou's eyes and he raised his arm in an attempt to keep the grit from his eyes.

The gust stopped a moment later and Shirou lowered his arm. There was a sound like shattering glass and a flash of reflected light. Shirou glanced at his arm and saw that his right forearm was suddenly covered with metal, the ends of swords stabbing out of where his flesh should've been.

In a flash of agony, the rest of his right arm erupted into more points of metal. Then his back. Then his left arm. Shirou staggered with the pain, and it was only then that he realized he was screaming. More and more points of metal erupted from his body and he collapsed to the ground, his scream carrying on to eternity in the desolate wasteland around him.

Shirou woke up suddenly. For a moment, he barely dared to breathe. Then he slowly turned onto his side and rose into a sitting position. He drew back on sleeve and examined the unmarked and undamaged flesh of his arm.

"It was a dream, right?" he asked himself. He gave himself one more moment to reassure himself that he wasn't about to explode into a lump of jagged metal.

Then he rose and proceeded to get dressed. He paused as he put on his shirt, though. _Does my shirt smell like, pine needles?_ he thought and inhaled deeply. Sure enough, there was a faint, but unmistakable pine scent coming from his clothing.

He examined his dresser and made another interesting discovery. He had more clothes than he'd had when he'd gone to sleep. The clothing that had been bloodied and torn in the fights with Caster and Archer had been seamlessly repaired, cleaned, and dry pressed before being tucked into his dresser. Further investigation revealed that the uniform that had been cut and bloodied during his fight with _Lancer_ had been given the same treatment.

Shirou was fairly certain that he wasn't a heavy enough sleeper for someone to have come in and cleaned his clothes without him noticing. And besides, Sakura would never have come into his room without his permission, and certainly not while he was asleep.

Shirou entered the living room and began to make breakfast. It wasn't long before Sakura came in to help.

"Good morning," Shirou said.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, before greeting Shirou with a polite," Good morning." Shirou raised an eyebrow at Sakura's greeting before moving on. Maybe she hadn't slept well or something.

As they were finishing their breakfast preparation, Taiga zoomed into the room with her cheery, "Good morning!"

"Good morning," Shirou and Sakura replied and Saber entered, joined by Link. Neither Rin nor Harry entered. Shirou presumed Tohsaka was sleeping in, or she and the Servant had gone elsewhere for the morning.

Shirou and Sakura laid out the food on the table, though the girl seemed to be actively avoiding being near Saber.

That was… odd. Shirou opened his mouth to try and ask Sakura about it, but the pine needle scent of his clothing drove something else out of his mouth.

"Hey, Sakura?" Shirou asked. "Um, were you…" he realized that this was going to sound awkward no matter how he put it. "Did you go to my room last night? While I was asleep?"

Sakura's face turned bright red and she glanced away from Shirou. "No, I wouldn't do that!" she said, quickly.

"Shirou!" Fuji-nee cried. "Why would you even ask something like that?"

"I'm sorry!" Shirou said. "It's just, something weird seems to have gone on last night, and I don't have a clue what happened."

"Oh?" Taiga asked. "And what might that have been?"

"My clothes were cleaned," he said.

This was obviously not the response Fuji-nee was expected.

"Huh?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

Shirou lifted his arm. "My clothes have all been cleaned and _dry pressed_." Sakura and Taiga gave each other dumbstruck looks. "Weird, isn't it?"

"Not's not the only thing," Sakura said. "I was able to come and help with breakfast this morning because the house seems to have cleaned itself."

"What?" Shirou asked.

Sakura seemed embarrassed. "I started doing the morning chores, but I noticed that most of them seemed to have been done already. That's why I was able to come and help with breakfast so early."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Shirou said. "Who could've cleaned the house, and done the laundry, without anyone noticing?" He glanced at Saber and Link.

"Don't look at me," Link said. "My inclinations are for cooking, not cleaning. Plus, I'm kind of a heavy sleeper."

Saber simply shook her head in negation.

"Maybe Miss Tohsaka?" Sakura asked.

"I don't think Rin is quite that motivated," Saber said.

"She's kind of a zombie until she actually wakes up," Link added. "I got a similar impression of Harry the other morning."

"Where is Tohsaka, anyway?" Shirou asked. He glanced around at the faces of those gathered, who all shrugged. Shirou turned his attention to Taiga, who had been suspiciously silent for the whole exchange.

Fuji-nee was busy eating probably a third of the food present. Shirou gave her a flat look and she gave him an innocent smile.

* * *

Shirou elected to skip school that day.

"I just need you to cut me some slack today," he told his teacher. "It's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I have something more important I have to do today."

Fujimura eyed Shirou suspiciously before turning away, saying: "Whatever, I know the only time you ever don't tell me anything is when you think that it's very important. Come on, Sakura."

The girl looked like she might argue for a moment, but then calmed down and followed the teacher. Shirou sighed in relief and then made his way to the dojo.

* * *

Saber's strike drove Shirou back several steps. He corrected his position instinctively and held his sword before him, his hands falling into the familiar position of a proper grip.

Saber stood before him, her face calm and impassive as always when they engaged in their practice bouts.

Shirou took a breath and then charged forward. His movements shifted into the familiar flow of long practice and he shifted the sword to be in his right hand. Saber's eyes widened in surprise and she dodged. Shirou turned with the motion and slashed out with his right hand.

Saber blocked the strike, the impact forcing Shirou's weapon back. His grip shifted into one for two hands in order to regain control of the wood and he counter attacked.

The battle continued for several more minutes, until the time they had allotted for practice had been finished. Once the time was up, Shirou sprawled on the ground, panting heavily with the exertion. Saber sat beside him as he recovered.

"Saber," Shirou asked. "Were you holding back today?"

"No," she replied.

"It didn't seem as though you were as hard on me as you were when we spared yesterday."

"That is because your skills are quickly improving," Saber answered as Shirou sat upright.

"Are they?" he asked, surprised.

"To be more specific," Link chimed in. "Your stance is much more efficient. You fell into a better spacing on what almost seemed like reflex."

"I don't know why," Shirou said. He examined one of his hands and added, "I was just remembering some moves."

"Oh, so that's it," Saber said, her tone gaining an odd quality to it. "You were using Archer's technique as your basis for study, not mine."

"Huh?" Shirou asked, turning to face Saber. Her eyes had closed and her expression was a mask. "Uh, you mean you can tell stuff like that?"

"Of course I can," she snapped. "I mean, if you remember, you had no fundamental stance to begin with." She turned her head away as Shirou moved to his hands and knees in supplication.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it as an kind of slight against you." He moved his gaze away from her, feeling guilty. "I guess he really got into my head. It's 'cause I was around him all night, last night."

"There is no need to apologize," Saber said, her tone lofty, her gaze still turned away. "If his fighting style is a better fit for you than mine is, it is not for me to judge." She rose to her feet and made her way to the dojo's exit.

"Um, Saber?" Shirou asked as the Servant walked past him. She only nodded her head in farewell and closed the door. Shirou turned to face Link, who shook his head in disappointment.

"What most people in this modern world don't realize is how important legacy is," he said. "Back in times where sword fighting was the norm, and only a special few could learn from a true master, that student became their legacy. That student would carry the sword techniques and knowledge of the master to the next generation."

Shirou began to understand. "So by using Archer's technique instead of hers," he said.

"You effectively said that you thought his technique was better to carry on than her own," Link finished. "You certainly wouldn't have meant it that way, and she knows that. But her first impulse will be one of disappointment, that her legacy won't be passed on." Link rose to his feet as well. "Well, since you seem to be learning swordplay through osmosis now, maybe you can have a bout or two with me. Kendo and dual wielding are all well and good, but there's still considerable advantages to carrying a shield. You'll want to have a basic understanding of how a shield is employed any way."

"Right," Shirou said, only half listening. He felt even worse now that Link had explained the situation. Link left and Shirou looked at the two wooden swords left on the ground near him.

He picked them up and held them in his hands. His stance shifted into the familiar position and he held the two swords before himself.

If felt so… natural to him. He swung both swords in a few forms that seemed to just pop into his mind. Then he sighed and put the weapons away.

He made his way to the bathroom, pondering his sudden new skill in Archer's sword technique. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that someone was in the bathroom as he opened his door.

Heat and steam washed over him and he snapped out of his thoughts to see Saber, completely naked standing with her back him, glancing over her shoulder in curiosity of the opening door.

Shirou let out a squawk and rapidly backed out of the room and shut the door before leaning against the wall and nearly hyperventilating. Then the door opened and Shirou spun his head away, his cheeks bright red, as Saber stepped out, still completely undressed.

"I'm sorry," she said, without a hint of shame or self-consciousness in her voice. "I should've asked if you wanted to use the shower before I decided to take it over for myself. But, that said, I think it would be inefficient for me not to use it now that I've taken off my clothes. So if you don't mind I would appreciate it if you could wait until I'm done."

"Uh, yeah, of course," Shirou said rapidly, still refusing to look at Saber. His entire head felt too hot and his body spasmed with the will it took not to look at Saber's naked form.

"You ears are extremely red," Saber noted. "If you're getting overheated, perhaps you should go outside for air."

What Shirou actually needed was to either die on the spot or have a liquid nitrogen shower. Since neither seemed likely, he decided that simple distance would have to do. "I- I'll d-do that," Shirou stuttered as he slowly turned away. "It was an accident, you know. Ireallywasn'ttryingtoseeyounakedoranything." His voice went from stutters to rapid speech and the small part of his mind that was still rational realized that he might not be making any sense.

"Look at me, please," Saber said.

The words froze Shirou in his tracks and made his back stiffen. He slowly turned his head, hoping to God that she had wrapped herself in a towel while he'd stammered.

His gaze fell upon a field of naked, pale flesh and he let out a noise of alarm before spinning his head away so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash.

"I'd like to state very clearly," Saber said. "that seeing me without clothes on is not an issue. I want to be seen first and foremost as a Servant, not a woman. This concern you have for proper decorum is unnecessary."

"What are you talking about?" Shirou demanded. "Are you trying to tell me that standing buck naked in the middle of the hallway isn't something you find the least bit embarrassing?"

"Why would I be embarrassed about that?" Saber asked, without a hint of playfulness in her tone.

As if on cue, Link turned the hallway and said, "Hey, Shirou, I need to-" He saw Saber and his eyes went wide and he spun around and rapidly went in the other direction. "Nevermind! Not important! You're clearly in the middle of something!"

Shirou's brain used the moment of distraction Link created to sucker-punch his embarrassment and take control of his muscles, forcing him to hurry off after Link.

"I'm sorry!" he called to Saber and turned the corner.

He made his way to the kitchen, seeking something he was familiar with to get the image of the very beautiful, very naked, Saber out of his head. He opened the fridge, looking for what was available to help make lunch. He was hungry after the extended practice session, and Saber certainly had to be as well.

He found a neat stack of frozen pizzas on one of the shelves.

 _That_ was the straw that broke the camel's back. Things had officially gotten too weird and Shirou decided that he needed a break. He snuck to the front door, put on his shoes and left the self-cleaning house, the naked Servant, and the mysteriously appearing food in the distance behind him.

-Interlude-

The first personal question her Master asked was what her name was. The second was what her home was like. The third was what it was like to be in love.

Even though she was in her astralized form, Pyrrha felt herself blush.

 _"Um,_ " she said. " _Well, it's difficult to describe._ " That felt like a cheap answer, and her Master hadn't seemed very happy with the response. Their dialogue had fallen into silence after that and Pyrrha struggled to find the right words.

" _You could be anything you wanted to be,_ " Pyrrha said suddenly. " _You could have anything you wanted in the whole world. But unless you were with that one person, then all of it just feels fake. The possibilities, the potential rewards, the triumphs feel… less than they could be._

 _"Love is what you feel when you're always willing to forgive and endure what happens as long as you have that one person by your side. It's like having family to support you, but the one person who you can speak to about the most closed off parts of your heart and mind."_

She was proud of her answer, even if it had taken her some time to figure out how to word it. Her Master was pleased with the answer as well.

Pyrrha held onto that answer, to the innocence of the questions as she was forced to watch the damage that was being done. She held onto her anger and kept it away to use later, when the proper time came. She whispered encouragement and made every show of support she could.

She was hesitant to act directly, just like she'd been hesitant with so many other things in her previous life. Hesitant about love, about sacrifice, and about making the right choices.

If she acted quickly, then maybe she could prevent her Master's death, especially given the odd bent her powers had received when she'd been summoned here. But she still didn't have an opportunity to truly test what her aura could do now. And if she misunderstood how her abilities worked now...

Pyrrha came out of her reflections to watch Shirou and Saber practice their swordplay. Link, the other saber, watched from the sidelines and tossed out advice and commentary as the Master and Servant fought.

Pyrrha had to say, she was rather impressed with Shirou's technique. He had an affinity with sword fighting that she could relate to and admire. She longed to materialize and join in the practice, remembering the hours she'd spent with Jaune on the roof of Beacon academy. The time she'd spent teaching him, guiding him, and falling in love with him. The memories prompted a flash of remembered pain in her chest, where the arrow had struck her.

Saber herself was in a league all on her own. She was fast, and graceful, and powerful in her attacks. The Servant had a confidence in fighting that came with long experience and natural talent. That was something Pyrrha could definitely relate to.

Eventually, the practice session stopped and there was a minor dispute about sword technique between Shirou and Saber, before the Servant left. Pyrrha made her way through the wall, not bound by the physical barriers of the dojo due to her astralized state. The bounded field around the house hadn't obstructed her either, which was surprising considering that a Caster had taken up residence in one of the guest houses with Rin Tohsaka.

Harry Dresden was known, even among heroic spirits, for being a magical brawler and had destroyed buildings before.

She'd been given a job today, rather than the usual duty of protecting her Master and staying away from the fighting. She was to watch Saber, and let her Master watch through her eyes.

The request had been… unusual, since her Master didn't have an interest in fighting in the war. Saber had seemed nice enough when they'd met and she wasn't at all sure why her Master was interested in watching her. Well… that wasn't exactly true. She could think of a few reasons, but she wasn't sure if those were natural feelings, or promptings from other sources. She wasn't sure which option was more terrifying.

Nothing of great importance happened once the training had finished. Saber eventually made her way to the bathroom in order clean herself up from the training session. Pyrrha followed, sharing her senses, but waiting politely outside until Saber was finished.

Pyrrha turned to introspection once again, and was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't notice what was about to happen until it was too late to leave or somehow interfere.

So her Master got a very clear look as Shirou opened the door to the bathroom and saw Saber standing there, completely naked.

Even though she was astrailzed and completely imperceptible to the physical world, Pyrrha imitated Shirou and hid around the door, her face burning with embarrassment. It wasn't that she hadn't seen girls naked, it was virtually unavoidable when one changed in a locker room from school uniform to combat gear. It was more the principle that led her to embarrassment.

The bathroom door opened and Saber, still completely naked, stepped out and began to speak to Shirou.

" _Is this really necessary?_ " Pyrrha thought at her Master, looking away from the scene.

" _Yes,_ " came the unexpectedly vehement reply. Pyrrha mentally sighed and turned her attention back toward Shirou and Saber.

Now that the initial shock had passed, Pyrrha glanced over Saber's form and admired the muscle tone the Servant had gained from her life. Saber was clearly athletic and the muscles told Pyrrha a story of their own, revealing to her eyes the type of exercise and physical experiences that Saber underwent in her life.

Pyrrha's glance took only a second and she turned her attention back toward Shirou, respecting the Servant's privacy even if she didn't seem to have shame in standing in the hallway completely naked.

"I'd like to state very clearly," Saber was saying. "that seeing me without clothes on is not an issue. I want to be seen first and foremost as a Servant, not a woman. This concern you have for proper decorum is unnecessary."

 _That_ bothered Pyrrha. That was mindset was uncomfortably close what her entire _life_ had been like. Set on a pedestal, defined by what she'd done and could do, rather than by who she was or what she wanted.

Pyrrha clenched her insubstantial fist. Hesitation. That's what her life was. Waiting until it was far too late to change anything.

She waited and she watched, as she'd been told to do. Like she'd always done.

* * *

 **Author's note: Lots of fun stuff in this chapter. Naked and oblivious Saber is always amusing, and Link sharing Shirou's sentiment only added to the amusement factor.**

 **For the Dresden fans in the crowd: I told you that Noble Phantasm would come back up. I'm also fairly certain that having something like frozen pizza in Shirou's kitchen is a deadly sin. I like the Neoalfa approach to Shirou, where the kitchen is his sanctum sanctorum. Such processed imperfection is not allowed. :)**

 **And hey! We have a Pyrrha interlude, which was a special treat for me to work on. As I've said before, I really tried to think about what regrets Pyrrha might have regarding her life. One of her biggest flaws was that she always seemed to hesitate when it came to making huge choices. Likely a by-product of having to follow contracts and conventions due to her status, but it's still significant. I hope I'm writing that flaw well. I guess I'll have to wait and see. Gee, maybe she and Shirou will end up getting along. She did choose the world over herself after all.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 _Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its entire life thinking that it is stupid._ \- anonymous, often attributed to Albert Einstein

Shirou hopped onto his bike and rode into town, heading for the market for any food that wasn't a frozen pizza. Fortunately, a visit to the grocer in town was enough to reassure his faith in the authenticity of food and he placed the bag full of ingredients in the basket of his bike with satisfaction.

An idle thought caught Shirou as he made a move to get back onto his bike. "Legacy is important," he muttered. The look on Saber's face seemed to speak of more than simply not being able to pass her techniques on. There had been something else, something he hadn't been able to grasp.

"I wonder what her wish is," Shirou murmured. Rin had said that Heroic Spirits only answered the Grail's call to fulfill a wish.

Someone grabbed the edge of Shirou's shirt and tugged lightly. He turned and shouted in alarm as his gaze fell upon the little girl that had tried to kill him with Berserker, standing politely beside him. He was so surprised that he fell backward, knocking his bike over as he fell.

He shot a hand up and pointed at her. "H-hey. What are you doing here?"

"Hello, big brother," the girl said, giving a small curtsey. "It's good to see you're not dead yet." She smiled as she spoke.

"Hey, you're not actually planning on fighting here?" Shirou asked. They were in public, with tons of witnesses. Engaging with each other would be insane.

"Of course not," she chided. "We're not supposed to fight when the sun's up, silly." The girl turned to glance at the sun as she spoke, lifting a hand to shield her eyes. She spun back to face Shirou. "That would be against the rules!"

"Yeah, I know that," Shirou said. "But you… What was your name again?"

"My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern," she answered. "But you can call me Illya for short! You gonna tell me what your name is, big brother?"

"Me? My name is Shirou Emiya."

"Shira Emiya?" Illya asked.

"Shirou Emiya," Shirou said, emphasising the 'ou' in his name.

"Shiro Emmia?" Illya asked.

"Shirou Emiya," he said, sternly. He was starting to get frustrated.

"Shiromia?" Illya asked. Shirou gave her a look.

The problem was that he couldn't tell if she was actually having trouble with his name, or if she was just messing with him to rise a rise out of him. The air of innocence around her seemed to be genuine, but that could've been an act.

He sighed and turned around to start picking up the spilled groceries and his bike. "You know what? Just call me Shirou, okay?"

He started walking his bike back toward home, and Illya followed.

"I left Berserker at home today," Illya said, chattering just like a child. "And you don't have Saber with you either. So we're even, right?"

"You could have Rider tucked away somewhere," Shirou said.

"And you could be hiding your other Saber as well!" Illya declared.

"This isn't a game, you know?" Shirou said, testily.

"Hey, come on! Please don't go!" Illya said, running up and hugging his arm. "I have so much that I want to talk to you about!"

"You want to talk to me?" Shirou asked.

"Yeah, of course!" Illyasviel said. Shirou tried to wrench his arm away, but the girl held on with that stubborn strength that only small children seem to possess. "Real kids sit down and talk to each other, don't they?"

"You think us Masters hang out by a campfire and chat?" Shirou asked. "You attacked me once! The way I see it, that makes us enemies."

"No one's good enough to be _my_ enemy," Illya said. "But if you promise to behave yourself, I'll let you walk away without a scratch today."

"You know what kid, you're insane," Shirou said and finally managed to pull his arm free of her grip. He apparently did it with enough force to send the girl stumbling back, off balance. Shirou reacted without thought, he shot his hand out and grabbed her shoulder to catch her and steady her with a "Hey, watch out."

"What's wrong?" Illya asked, her eyes full of… pain? "What did I do? Tell me why you don't like me, big brother."

Shirou met the girl's eyes and tried to summon up the anger. She had attacked him, nearly killed him, Link, and Saber. Ghost Rider and Harry had fought because of this girl. But he couldn't. He might not have been able to soul gaze like Harry, but the pain and sorrow in the girl's red eyes undermined what she might have done previously.

No matter how he looked at it, this was a little girl. A little girl who was in pain and wanted help.

"Okay," he said, his voice gentle. "Fine, I'll hang out with you. Happy now?"

"Yep!" she declared and ran ahead of Shirou, giggling and laughing. "Come on! Hurry up! Don't want to eat my dust, do you, Shirou?"

She led Shirou to a park and began to run around just like any other child. Shirou sat down on a park bench and watched her. It was hard to stay suspicious of her, but he somehow managed it.

"Let me guess," he said. "You want to ask me questions about the sabers."

"No," Illya said. She was making her way across the balance beam a short distance away from Shirou. "That stuff is boring. There's got to be better stuff to talk about than that."

"Okay," Shirou said, surprised that a Master wouldn't take the opportunity to try and learn about an enemy's Servants. "Well, you tell me. What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know. I don't get to talk to people very much." Illya nearly lost her balance and let out a gasp before she regained her balance. "Why don't you pick the subject?" she suggested. "Hey, isn't it the _boy's_ job to keep the girl entertained anyway?"

As Shirou thought about that tidbit, Illya's balance slipped and she fell off the balance beam, landing against Shirou. She immediately adjusted into a more comfortable position and didn't pull away.

"What's going on, Illya? You cold or something?" He wrapped his arms instinctively around her as she answered.

"A little. You know, I really hate the cold."

"Well that's not good. The wind is pretty chilly today. So if you don't like the cold, where did you come from? You've got a pretty aristocratic sounding name."

"It doesn't just sound aristocratic, it _is_ aristocratic. I was born in the old Einzbern castle where it was never warm and always snowing."

"Well I think if you grew up where it was cold you would at least be used to it by now, wouldn't you?"

"It isn't that I'm not used to it," Illya said. "I just hate it. I like being warm a lot more than being cold. Except for the snow. I like the snow, because my daddy said it matched my hair color perfectly. And I'll always like the snow because of that."

"Well it's definitely as white as the snow," Shirou commented. "In fact, it's so white that you almost look like a snow fairy."

"I know!" Illya said excitedly. "I'm really proud of it, I got it from my mother. She looked like a snow fairy too." Illya giggled to herself.

 _When I see her like this,_ Shirou thought. _I just can't believe it. I mean how can this little girl be the Master of something as awful as Berserker?_

"So tell what kind of good stuff you inherited from your father, Shirou."

Shirou's eyes went wide with surprise. "From my dad?" he asked. "Well, that's a little different." And before he realized what he was doing, he started talking. "You see, I didn't get any physical traits from him like you got from your mom. But I did get something that I think is just as cool." He didn't say what was though. It felt too personal to share with Illya.

The Einzbern seemed to intuit that, because all she said was: "Wow, that it cool." Then she perked up, as if realizing something. "Hey, so if all that is true, then I guess you didn't get a Magic Crest, huh. So, then you're not really a Master are you?"

"No, I'm still a Master," Shirou told her. "But I'm just kinda a half-baked one that doesn't have a crest, or a proper family line like you do."

"Huh?" Illya asked. "Yeah, I am a Master, but no one's gone and taught me any magic."

"No way," Shirou said. "That means you didn't inherit a Magic Crest from your parents then?"

"I don't think so. But isn't a Magic Crest something you have to have in order to be a Master?"

"So you're a Master, but not a mage," Shirou said. "Why do I suddenly get the feeling that we're not talking about the same thing?"

Illya's expression grew confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it. I don't really understand all this stuff either." Illya spun around and sat down next to Shirou. At a loss for the current topic, Shirou decided to ask the girl something else. "So where exactly are you staying for all this anyway, Illya?" Something as huge and destructive as Berserker couldn't be good for the local environment.

"That way," Illya answered, pointing into the distance. "You see where that big forest is? There's a great, big Western-style house out there. And that's where I was told to live during the Holy Grail war."

The fact that the girl had simply told him where her base was was ignored by a fact that seemed far more important in Shirou's mind. "You came here by yourself?" he asked. The girl didn't look older than 12 years old. Were children that age even _allowed_ to travel alone?

"Yeah, I snuck out when no one was looking," Illya said. "Sella and Liz are my maids, but they're really bossy sometimes. They always keep me locked up in my room because they say the cold is bad for my health. So being here today is like being a special treat for me."

That made Shirou feel better. Illya must have come into the country with her maids, thereby allowing her to then take residence in the house she spoke about. Illya had misunderstood his question, but had wound up answering it anyway.

He glanced at the girl and saw the loneliness in her eyes again. He reached into his bag and pulled something out. "You want one?" he asked, offering her some food.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You've never had a taiyaki before?"

"Uh-uh," Illya answered. "You think it's okay if I have a bite?" she asked, slowly.

"Yeah, they're good."

Illya let out a pleased sound as Shirou handed it over and she thanked him politely before taking a hearty bite. "Yummy!" she declared and continued to eat.

 _I wonder if I had a little sister,_ Shirou thought. _If she'd be like this?_

That thought jogged his memory. Before he'd introduced himself, she'd kept calling him big brother. He opened his mouth to ask her about that.

"Illyasviel," a voice called out. Shirou spun and saw an average looking man in a chauffeur's uniform standing outside of the park. "It's time to go."

"Oh!" Illya said. "Coming!" Then she hopped off the bench and hurried to the man's side. "Bye-bye, Shirou!" she called over her shoulder. She and the man departed, but not before Shirou caught a the man glancing over his shoulder, staring at him intently.

* * *

As Shirou made his way home, he decided it was probably best to keep his conversation with Illya to himself. Nothing had been revealed, and the girl hadn't really struck him as an actual Master. She'd been too different from when they'd met before.

Surprisingly, Rin was the first one to return to the house.

"I'm back!" she called out from the foyer. She entered the dining room a moment later, Harry following her.

"Hey, Tohsaka," Shirou said. "I-" Rin held up her hand to silence him.

"I've put a Command Seal on Archer," she said. "I ordered him not to attack you or the Sabers again for as long as our alliance stands. I know it doesn't make up for anything, but I'm sorry." Shirou moved to speak, but Rin pressed on, her cheeks slightly pink. "And I'm sorry for how I've been treating you. You're naive, idiotic, headstrong, and can be downright frustrating. But you're not wrong, either. And if you're going to continue with this idiocy then, dammit, we're going to this right! I'm going to teach you how to use your magic. Alright?"

Shirou stood there for a moment. His silence made the color of Rin's cheeks more vivid. His eyes unconsciously flicked to Harry, but if the wizard noticed, he didn't say anything. Shirou found himself wondering again what they had seen when they stared into each other's souls.

"Well?" Rin demanded, her face red. "Say something!"

Shirou smiled, enjoying the sight of this new side to Rin. "Okay," he said.

"Okay?!" Rin shouted. "All you have to say is _okay_?!" Harry started to laugh. "It's not funny, Harry!"

Harry waved a dismissive hand. "Why don't you just get to the new development from school today?" he suggested.

"New development?" Shirou asked. "Has the barrier changed?"

"There's nothing new there," Harry said. "But apparently someone doesn't know when to quit."

"Shinji Matou pulled me aside and asked me to join forces with him," Rin said.

"He did _what?_ " Shirou demanded.

"I told him to buzz off," Rin said. "But, as Harry said, he doesn't know how to take a clue. When he started getting pushy I clocked him right in the face and told him: 'I already have Emiya and I trust him a whole lot more than I trust you.' Then I just went on my way."

"Yep," Harry said. "Our little Rin here certainly knows how leave a lasting impression." He wiped away a fake tear. "They grow up so fast."

"Bite me, Dresden," Rin shot back, giving Harry a flat look.

The wizard let out a short laugh as he made his way across the room to the kitchen. "A blunt retort? That's refreshing." He took a look at what Shirou had been cooking as they walked in and then peeked into the refrigerator. He glanced at Shirou and raised an eyebrow. "They sell frozen pizza here?"

One of Shirou's eyes twitched. "No," Shirou said tersely. "And I don't know how they got in there."

Harry eyed Shirou. "Wow," he said. "I didn't even think it was possible for you to get that annoyed. I'll take care of them."

"You?" Rin asked. "Can you even handle making frozen pizza?"

Harry glared at her. "I'm an American," he said, in english. "We can two foods really well: Sandwiches and frozen pizza."

"But where did they even come from?" Shirou asked. Harry just shrugged and didn't answer, but there was a twinkle in his eye that said far more.

* * *

Practicing strengthening, or reinforcement, magic with Rin was far different than what he'd done by himself. Rin took him to the room she was staying in and had him sit on the floor after she'd changed out of her school uniform and into her regular clothes.

She set a large bag down beside herself then joined Shirou on the floor. The mage set a glass oil lamp before Shirou.

"Show me how you'd reinforce this," she said simply.

"Okay," Shirou said and rested his hand upon the glass. He closed his eyes and concentrated. "Trace on," he said, creating the magic circuit like Kiritsugu had shown him. With the power came a complete understanding of the lamp's structure and composition. He poured his power into the glass, trying to make the structure more efficient at its task.

There was a pop and clinking, and Shirou opened his eyes to discover that the glass was shattered.

"Unbelievable," Rin said.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked, opening his eyes reigning in his frustration at yet another failure.

"It's just how sloppy that was," Rin said, bluntly. "What, did I offend you?"

"So I screwed up," Shirou said, defensively. "Big deal."

"I came prepared for this," Rin said and pulled a red object from her bag. "Here, swallow this." She moved to Shirou and lifted the it up.

"Um," he said.

"Do it," she commanded and put the thing into his mouth.

"Is it candy or something?" Shirou asked, starting to try and chew the cold, hard object while trying to figure out what on Earth Rin was doing.

"Don't chew. Swallow it," she told him.

Shirou quickly swallowed the cold object that his brain was rapidly informing his was, in fact, a gem. The fact that she'd told him to swallow it was what had initially convinced him that it wasn't one of the gems she habitually used.

Shirou worked his throat to swallow the gem before his brain could persuade him that it was a bad idea.

"Ugh," he complained. "Was that one of your gems?"

"Yep," Rin confirmed, digging through the bag.

Shirou started to object, but he suddenly felt dizzy and his mind began to fuzz. It almost felt like how he imaged vertigo was like. "What's this thing doing to me?" he asked, placing his hands on the ground to keep his seating steady.

Rin's voice seemed to echo in his ears as she spoke. "It may feel a little weird," her blurring form said. Shirou had to fight to try and keep her in focus, but that was clearly a losing battle. "But try to deal with it. The difference between a mage and a normal person is whether or not they have a switch to turn their magic circuits on or off.

"If you're a mage, once the magic circuit is created inside your body, you can control your mana by simply switching it on or off. Every time you have to create a new circuit from scratch, you're wasting energy. So what I'm trying to do is force that switch in your body from off to on. That's why I had you swallow that gem."

As she explained herself, Shirou vision began to readjust and her voice became clear once again.

"There's a switch?" he asked, still confused from whatever the gem had been doing to his insides.

"You'll soon understand," Rin told him. "It makes it easier when you're trying to open a circuit if you visualize a switch in your head. It'll give you something to work off of."

Shirou shook his head, trying to disperse the remnants of the dizziness and confusion. Then he took a deep breath.

"So, should I be thanking you or something?"

"You don't need to thank me. You're my partner and if you're not competent, then it causes me problems and will simply cause you to get killed the next time you run into a fight." She pulled out another oil lamp. "Okay, back to it," she said and set the lamp down next to the remains of the first. "First of all, strengthening magic is beginner's stuff when compared to other forms of magic."

"Like what?" Shirou asked, trying to get an idea of where his abilities might grow to.

"A good example of the other end of the scale might be something like thaumaturgy," Harry said, materializing on the bed. "Doing something to a small object, and pouring out enough energy to make it happen on a large scale. Or maybe evocation, where you throw out a lot of power to embrace or create natural, destructive forces."

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Rin asked.

"Lending moral support," he answered. "I wanted to see how you two were doing."

"We're fine," Rin said and turned her attention back to Shirou.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Shirou laid out on the porch leading to the yard, contemplating what he and Rin had been practicing. Once Rin had him swallow the gem, he could almost feel what she'd been talking about.

He'd been able to feel more energy as he tried to strengthen the glass. That hadn't prevented him from consistently failing, but it gave him hope.

He sensed someone near him and he opened his eyes, turning his gaze onto Archer.

"So you managed to open your magic circuits," the Servant said. "How long to it take Rin?"

"Why are _you_ here?" Shirou asked. "I don't have anything to say to you."

"Trust me, I feel the same," Archer replied. "But, believe it or not, I don't like seeing Rin worry, either."

"Sure you do," Shirou said. "That was real apparent when you tried to kill me. I'm sorry if I'm an inconvenience to your Master."

"Rin doesn't quite grasp this," Archer said. "It's hard for a genius to understand the problems of an ordinary person. Because she's such an excellent student, she doesn't realize that normal teaching methods won't work on a loser like you. Maybe with Caster helping her she might be able to get through your thick skull. He seems the type who understands effort."

Anger shot through Shirou. It wasn't the shot at himself that stirred the emotion, much to his surprise. It was implications Archer had made about Harry.

"He's a better man that you are," Shirou snapped. "Are petty insults your way of getting kicks, since Rin forbid you from trying to kill me?"

Archer didn't answer. Shirou dismissed his attention from Archer and started to get to his feet to leave.

"I'll only say this once, so pay attention," Archer said. "When it comes to fighting, Shirou Emiya doesn't have a prayer. Nothing you do is going to put you on par with a Servant." Shirou turned his gaze back to Archer, grinding his teeth in anger. "The only thing you can do is visualize. If you face an opponent you cannot defeat, then visualize something that will allow you to defeat him." Archer turned away contemptuously. "This is the only skill you have. So I suggest you perfect it."

Shirou let out a breath, keeping control. "There must be something wrong with me," Archer said, turning his gaze back onto Shirou, his customary smirk on his lips. He walked away as he finished with "I'm giving advice to someone I want to kill." Then he dematerialized.

* * *

 **Author's note: Pretty low key chapter today. Not much going on here. A huge advantage for Shirou is that, while Rin might not know how to teach, Dresden certainly does. :)**

 **Lord of Memory: Hey! It's been a while! Thank you so much for another review! And don't worry. I have plans for that reveal.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 _After generations of Fire Lords failed to find you, now the universe delivers you to me as an act of Providence._ \- Ozai, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Training with Saber only got more intense after the previous day's events. She seemed determined to try and prove that, just because he seemed to be gaining rapid skill at Archer's sword technique, she could still beat him in a fair fight whenever she wanted to.

Rin and Link stood on the sidelines, the former watching silently, the latter giving his customary feedback and sarcastic comments.

Saber slammed into him and then delivered a rapid series of strikes that knocked Shirou's weapon away and sent him to the ground once again.

Saber stood before him, her face a calm mask. "I think it's fair to say we've done enough training for one morning, Shirou," she said, lowering her weapon.

"You sure are one cool customer, Saber," Rin told Saber as she stepped up beside the Servant. "You two have been going at it for three hours straight and you haven't flinched once."

"I suppose I've just learned to suppress my emotions the second I pick up my sword," Saber said. "It's not something I've given much thought to."

"Perhaps that's what women have to do strategically to gain the edge in a sword fight" Rin mused, putting her hand to her chin in thought. "Instead of trying to overpower your opponent physically, you overpower them mentally."

"I don't think that's it at all," Saber answered. "I've never once thought of myself as a woman. Nor have I ever been treated as one. The only reason I ever came to this era was to fight, not to be consumed by something as trivial as my gender."

Shirou grimaced slightly at the comment and he caught a flash of a troubled expression on Rin's face as well.

"Okay then," she said and stepped up to Shirou, who was still sitting where he'd fallen. "Now it's time for your lessons with me."

"What?" Shirou asked. "Don't I get a break?"

Rin grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close. "You have a ton of stuff to learn today so stop slacking and get on your feet." Then she hauled him to his feet and proceeded to drag him out of the dojo.

Once they arrived at her room, Shirou was dismayed to see a small horde of oil lamps like the one he'd broken yesterday.

"We'll start where we left off," Rin said. "Try to strengthen each of these lamps."

"I've got to do all of them?" Shirou asked.

"Meanwhile," Rin said, as if she hadn't heard. "I'll be out for a bit. I expect you to be done by the time I get back." Then she left with a final: "Have fun."

Shirou sat on the ground and faced the innocent looking, but monumental task before him.

"I've got to remember what I was trying to do last night," he said. He held a hand over one lamp and focused his mana. "Trace on." He poured his mana into the lamp, trying to reinforce the glass. It shattered with a pop and clinking, as the lamps the previous day had. Shirou cursed and tried to focus his attention.

"You're being too hasty," Harry said, materializing beside Shirou.

He jumped in surprise. "Gah! Don't scare me like that, Harry!"

The wizard smirked. "You'll survive," he said and sat down on the bed beside Shirou. "You're being too hasty," he said again.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked.

"Rin is making a couple of assumptions that she might not realize are a mistake," Harry explained. He lifted a hand, forestalling whatever Shirou was about to say. "That's not a criticism. They're reasonable assumptions, considering that you've managed to reinforce without struggle before."

"So what does that have to do with me being hasty?" Shirou asked.

"You're skipping an important step," Harry explained. "You're trying to call up your mana _as_ you're trying to strengthen the glass. Eventually you'll be able to do that without any conscious thought, but at your level for right now, take it a little slower."

Harry lifted his right hand. " _Flickum Bicus,_ " he said, and a tiny flame appeared over his palm. "Your world's magic is different from mine, but they still operate under similar principles. Don't try to force your power to come out in a blazing second, let it build. Gather in the energy you need, then send it out to do what you want."

"How?" Shirou asked.

"Ignore the glass for a moment," Harry said. "Close your eyes." Shirou complied. "Slow your breathing and relax your mind. Focus." Shirou took several deep breaths and tried to relax his thoughts.

"Remember what Rin told you last night," Harry said, his voice sounded strangely far to Shirou's ears now.. "Remember the switch. You're in a dark room and your mana is the only way to turn on the light so you can see. Reach out and find the switch, then turn it on. Once you feel ready, reach out and reinforce the lamp."

Shirou focused, picturing the darkened room Harry described. He needed to turn on the light. He quested with imaginary fingers, looking for the switch. Then he felt something. Shirou gripped it and reached out with his hand.

"The magic is a part of you," Harry said softly. "Let it flow. Trust your instincts."

"Trace on," he said and flipped the switch. There was a pulse of power and Shirou understood the complete makeup of the lamp before him. Shirou let go and let his instincts guide him, rather than his conscious thoughts. He pictured the glass shining brighter, working more effectively than it did now, but didn't imagine the process needed for it.

There was a quick surge of power and Shirou almost tried to suppress the rush of energy, worried he'd shatter the glass with so much power. Then the energy faded away, the switch reset and the room in his mind went dark again.

Shirou kept his eyes closed, almost scared of what he'd see. "Open your eyes, Shirou," Harry said.

Shirou opened his eyes and looked at the lamp. The glass shone brightly, strengthened and more efficient in its task.

"I did that?" Shirou asked, a little amazed.

Harry nodded. "I'm gonna go find Rin," he said. "I think we might have made a breakthrough." Then he dematerialized.

Shirou looked at the lamp, mostly surprised that he'd pulled it off outside of a stressful situation.

The phone rang.

Shirou was jolted out of his thoughts and he quickly made his way to the nearest phone.

"Hello, Emiya residence," he said.

"Hey, Emiya," Shinji said through the phone. Shirou stiffened in surprise. "Yes, it's me," Shinji continued. "You're not at school again today. Is something wrong?"

"What do you want, Shinji?" Shirou asked.

"There's no need to get testy," Shinji said. "I'm only calling because I know how much you care about Sakura."

Anger blazed inside of Shirou. "What have you done?" he demanded.

"I haven't done anything," Shinji said. "You do realize there are more Masters than you, Tohsaka, and myself, right? I need to speak to you alone about what might go down. School's a safe place since it's public. Sound agreeable?"

"Fine," Shirou said. "I'll be there soon." They hung up and Shirou threw on his uniform and quickly ran from the house.

He made it to school in record time and immediately felt that something was wrong. As he entered the main building, the feeling only grew.

 _Why are the halls so empty?_ he thought as he made his way through the building. _People should be on break right now._

He took another step and a wave of nauseating _wrongness_ swept over him. The lighting went red and Shirou slumped forward.

"What the hell was that?" he asked aloud.

" _The barrier_ ," came Link's voice. " _It's been activated_." The saber materialized next to Shirou, sword and shield out. The sword blazed with golden light, as if to combat the red illumination that surrounded the entire school. The triple triangles on the back of his left hand blazed with light as well.

"Link?" Shirou asked.

"You can't be surprised this time," the warrior said. "If Saber isn't with you, _I_ am. That was the deal."

"I'm just happy to have backup right now," Shirou said and made his way to the nearest classroom. He slid open the door and felt horror at what he saw. Students were collapsed around their desks and barely moving. Coughs and moans echoed through the room and several of them were drooling as they lost control of their body's movements.

Anger and fear coursed through Shirou beside a surge adrenaline and he rapidly made his way to another classroom. He had to be sure.

He threw open the door to Sakura's class room with surprising force and was amazed at what he saw.

The students were all carefully lined up behind desks that had been rearranged to form a protective barrier. He managed to catch sight of Sakura's collapsed form behind the greatest number of desks. But even more surprising was the figure who stood in there as well.

Pyrrha stood before the wall of desks, the casual clothes he'd seen her in before were now gone and replaced with armor. Metal greaves and a gauntlet covered her legs and left arm. Her waist was covered by a pair of shorts and a swath of red fabric like a skirt and her torso was covered by a form fitting chestpiece of leather vaguely like a corset. A metal guard sat around her neck and her customary circlet was around her forehead.

A bronze colored shield was attached to the bracer on her left arm, and her right held a long, red and bronze colored metal spear. She adjusted her position the moment Shirou opened the door, turning to face Shirou and clearly ready to fight.

Link immediately placed himself in front of Shirou, holding up his shield as well. When she saw that it was Shirou who had opened the door, Pyrrha relaxed slightly.

"Nice to see you again, Emiya," she said, her voice grim.

"Was this you?" Shirou asked.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No, it's actually,"

"Hello there, Emiya," Shinji's voice called from somewhere behind him. Shirou left the classroom and set his gaze down the hall. Shinji stood there, looking confident and very pleased with himself. His hands were in his pockets and a book was held under his left arm. He didn't seem at all affected by the barrier.

It was possible that, as the one who had helped create it, it ignored him from its effects. Shirou, himself, could feel the energy clawing at him and pulling his energy away slowly in a suffocating cloud.

"Glad to see you're looking in good health today," he continued. "So tell me. How do you like my handiwork? Pretty impressive, right?"

"What the hell are you thinking, Shinji?"

"What? You don't like it?" Shinji asked, with mock disappointment. "But I did this all for you. I activated it the second I knew you were on your way. It wasn't easy getting the timing right, you know. Too soon, you'd escape. Too late and we'd bump into each other first and ruin everything."

"So all that crap about not wanting to fight was just a lie after all?" Shirou asked.

"You and Tohsaka brought this on yourselves!" Shinji snapped. "I asked both of you to join with me, not against me, but both of you turned me down!" he regained his composure. "I didn't want to activate something of this magnitude unless I truly had to."

"Drop the barrier, now!" Shirou demanded.

"Sorry, but you're in no position to give orders," Shinji said. "If you really want to convince me to turn it off, you're gonna have to get on your knees and start begging. You know, you and Fujimura are exactly the same. Neither of you seems to know your place."

"What did you do to her?" Shirou demanded.

"After I activated the barrier, she still managed to get around fairly well. Everyone else just started dropping like flies, but somehow she hobbled her way towards me. Then she started spewing out some garbage about calling an ambulance or something. I obviously wasn't calling any ambulance, but she was so obnoxiously persistent that I had to do something. After I decided to connect my boot with her head, she went down and stayed down. I wouldn't be surprised if that did her in for good."

Shinji began to laugh and Shirou's rage hit a critical mass. Words came back to him, spoken by Harry: ' _Shinji might have something far darker on the inside than you think._ ' And then bizarrely, he remembered what the wizard had told him earlier that day. _'Don't try to force your power to come out in a blazing second, let it build.'_

Shirou reached within himself and found the switch Rin had helped give him, and that Harry helped him find. He flipped it on.

The suffocating air around him vanished and Shirou stood straight.

Shinji was still laughing about what he'd done to Fujimura and Shirou opened his mouth to speak. A door between between the two Masters exploded out with tremendous force and Pyrrha, her face set in cold determination, flew through the sudden hole.

She landed between them, spun and slashed her spear straight at Shinji, left to right. Shinji's alarmed step back was the only reason he evaded that strike. But luck can only carry someone so far.

Shinji's step had saved him from he slash, but not from her follow through charge with her shield. She slammed the plane of metal straight into Shinji and sent him sprawling back down the hallway.

"That's enough out of you," Pyrrha said. Shinji lurched to his feet. He'd also, Shirou noted, somehow managed to keep hold of the book he'd been carrying.

"Lancer?" he asked. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I was given one order from my Master," Pyrrha said spinning the spear until she held it at a diagonal angle behind herself. "I was to protect her and not get involved with the conflict unless absolutely necessary."

"That included not interfering with me!" Shinji snapped, fear taking the edge out of his retort.

"I know," Pyrrha said, giving Shinji a chilly little smile. "So imagine my dilemma when you decided to activate the Bloodfort with my Master still _inside the building_. I don't have a choice but to get involved, Shinji Matou. You've forced my hand by attacking my Master."

Shinji's breathing grew ragged as Pyrrha began to move forward. For every step she took, Shinji took one back.

"Drop the barrier, Shinji," Pyrrha said. "Before I'm forced to actually _try_ and hurt you."

"Rider!" Shinji screamed. The spike and chain weapon Shirou recognized from his fight in the forest outside the school shot down the hallway toward Pyrrha.

Pyrrha gracefully spun and knocked the weapon aside with her round shield. Shirou watched the Servant, now properly identified as the second Lancer, gracefully move and meet his eyes for a split second as she defended.

Then her eyes widened with surprise and she adjusted her stance and shot straight toward Shirou. She threw her left arm out and the shield left her arm like a frisbee, impacting with the wall and deflecting the shield's course so that it flew just past Shirou's head.

There was a clanging of metal striking metal and Shirou turned to look over his shoulder.

Pyrrha's shield had knocked away a pair of knives that had been spinning through the air straight toward Shirou's neck. Shirou's eyes traced the original path of the knives and his gaze fell upon a familiar figure in armor and white robes with a hood.

Pyrrha caught her shield as it rebounded off of the opposite wall and passed Shirou, stopping when she was completely behind him.

Shirou turned his gaze back to Shinji, who was hiding behind Rider.

"Excellent work, Rider," Shinji said, apparently not realizing that Assassin had just shown up. "Now, kill Emiya."

Shirou spun to face Shinji again as Rider threw her chain forward, and Link leapt out of the classroom he'd been waiting in and intercepted the attack with his own shield.

Rider moved and threw her chain in a rapid series of attacks, prompting Link to go on the defensive. Then she shot forward with unnatural speed and used Link's shield as a springboard to leap over him and attack Shirou.

Link cursed and spun, but Rider was already on top of Shirou. She stabbed her spike directly into Shirou's neck. There was the sound of metal snapping and Rider lifted her weapon to reveal the point had been chipped off. Link started to charge toward her and Rider spun, kicking Shirou in the side and knocking him through the window instead.

Shirou heard chains and saw a metallic claw flying through the air toward his chest. The chain connected to the claw stretched back to a device that now covered Link's arm. Rider threw her own spike and chain at the claw, and knocked Link's off course as Shirou left the building.

Shirou fell out of sight of the battle and toward the ground, three stories below.

 _Is this it?_ Shirou thought. _Is this how I'm going to die? The first Master gone in a conflict that shouldn't be happening? The one who could never save anyone?_ Steel came into his thoughts and his gaze fell upon the Command Seals on his left hand. _NO!_ he thought. _I'm not going to give up my life when I'm the only one here who can help!_

"Saber, to me!" he called and the topmost portion of his Command Seals faded into near invisibility.

Something grabbed him from beneath and carried him through the air, landing and spinning to a stop.

"Shirou?" Saber asked, setting him on the ground.

"I don't have a lot of time for details," Shirou said. "You know what this barrier is about?"

"Just a minute, Shirou. Before I do anything I need to check your wound," Saber said.

"Wound?" Shirou asked. He glanced at his side and saw the hilt of a knife sticking out of his side, dangerously close to some vital organs. Shirou suddenly felt cold as the pain he hadn't realized was there hit him like a sledgehammer. Assassin must have thrown another knife when his first two were intercepted, or else had thrown one slight after the first two in case the first set failed.

Shirou shook his head. "Forget it, you need to get up there and help deal with Rider."

"Yes, but if I do that-"

"Saber," Shirou said, cutting his Servant off. "We have to take down this barrier. Fuji-nee and everyone else is in serious danger. If I have to use a Command Seal, I'll do it."

"You don't," Saber said. "I understand. What are your orders, Shirou?"

"Help Link take out Rider," Shirou said. "I'll deal with Shinji. If we're lucky, Pyrrha is taking care of Second Assassin."

"Pyrrha and Second Assassin are here?" Saber asked. They started to move back toward the school.

"Yeah," Shirou said. "Pyrrha stopped Assassin from killing me. Then Rider kicked me out the window."

There was the sound of shattering glass and Shirou looked up to see Second Assassin flying out of a window as if he'd been shot out of a cannon. Pyrrha leapt after him, holding a bronze and red rifle and firing it at Assassin as they fell out of the building.

"I think she has Assassin taken care of," Saber agreed as they entered the school.

* * *

 **Author's note: Welcome to Bloodfort Andromeda. Operating population: 7. Assassin is about to learn that he's in serious trouble.**

 **Also, hey! Pyrrha is actually fighting now! And she's probably one of the scarier Secondary Servants around to boot. RWBY fans can probably make a guess as to why. Sadly, the wizard won't be joining us today. He's a little busy and I think Dresden has burned down enough buildings already.**

 **That's another chapter quote I'm quiet proud of. I was trying to find something that worked well with the Bloodfort and then I remembered the end of The Last Airbender. Ozai was a great villain and that delivery from Mark Hamill was awesome. I'm happy I was able to use it here.**

 **And I can finally update the Servant profiles now that Shirou has seen more secondary Servants in action. Don't forget to check them out on my profile page. Any skills that aren't from the Nasuverse have been given descriptions and the profiles also include voice actor names so that you can picture the right voices or, at least, see who I'd want playing the role.**

 **Darthwolf: Thank you so much for your interest. I hope what I have planned will be enjoyable for you.**

 **Hydrocell2: Thank you so much for your kind words. I hope you stay entertained. I personally never saw that as a cliffy, but it looks like you did everything I had in one go, so I can see where you're coming from there. :)**

 **Coronadomontes: Gracias. I'm happy you're enjoying the story.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

 _A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage._ \- Hero Shade, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Saber and Shirou ran up the stairs until they reached the floor Shirou had been thrown out from. As the cleared the stairs, they saw Link fly past them. Rider surged by barely a second later, still fighting the warrior.

"Go," Saber said. "Link and I are more than capable of dealing with Rider. Take care of her Master in the meantime."

"She's all yours," Shirou said, turned and charged at Shinji, who stood down the hallway.

"Don't let him come near me!" Shinji shouted in fear. "This is all your fault this is happening anyway in the first place! You're the one that didn't kill Emiya when I told you to!"

Shinji turned and ran as Shirou closed in on him, shouting in fear.

Saber tightened her grip on her invisible sword and watched Rider attacking Link. A moment later, she saw an opening and charged in with a battle cry.

Rider rotated and flung her chain out toward Saber. Saber deflected one strike and the second chain wrapped around her arm. Rider pulled with surprising force and pulled Saber toward her. Saber charged, using Rider's pull to help her accelerate quickly.

Rider shot up into the air and over Saber as she swung, then dropped and kicked Saber in the back, making her stumble forward and nearly into Link. Then Rider flung her chain out in a series of rapid attacks, forcing Link to move forward and block with his shield.

"Damnit," Link cursed. "She's forcing us on the defensive. I can't use any of my other equipment well in this enclosed space. Long range attacks are just as likely to hit Shirou as they are her."

They both charged forward, coming at Rider from both sides of the hallway, trying to force her to spread her attacks. Rider bent forward and blurred forward, passing the two sabers and lashing out with her chain again.

The links of metal wrapped around Link's shield arm and the force of Rider's sprint yanked Link off balance. The Hylian spun and his boots shimmered into the pair made of heavy iron.

The glowing sword Link held vanished and was replaced by a boomerang that swirled with wind. Link hurled it at Rider as Saber charged forward.

Rider slapped the boomerang away, sending it flying out of a window and blocked Saber's strikes with the spike ends of her chain. The boomerang smashed through a window behind Rider and spun toward her, moving with an apparent will of its own.

Rider moved in a near serpentine motion and evaded the boomerang. Saber moved back reflexively to avoid the unorthodox weapon, but the boomerang swerved around her on its own and returned to Link's hand.

Rider threw her chain at the boomerang before it could reach Link's hand, but the spike deflected off of the swirling air around the wood. Rider pulled back on the chain and nearly impaled Saber with it on the return.

Saber's armor and instincts saved her from the attack. She dodged to one side and the spike scraped against the metal armor at Saber's side.

"Saber, your eyes!" Link shouted. Saber lifted an arm over her eyes as Link fired a nut from a slingshot in his hands. The nut shot through the air and Rider twirled her chain into the projectile.

There was a blinding flash of light and Link opened his eyes from his well-timed blink to see Rider, apparently unaffected by the light, right in front of him.

Link cursed as Rider's spikes slammed into his side, the point cutting some of the chainmail shirt under his tunic and scoring on his flesh.

Saber charged again, and Rider lithely dropped to the ground and swept Link's legs out from under him and then flipping over him once Saber's swing had passed.

Link rolled to his feet and lifted his sword and shield in a ready position. Rider was far too good at fighting in tight quarters for someone with a spiked chain as a weapon.

 _She didn't seem nearly this powerful when I scared her off before_ , Link thought. _Shirou was able to survive, even if she was just playing with him. So what's different this time?_ Then it hit him.

"The barrier," Link said. "Saber, she's drawing power from everyone inside this field. Shirou's got to get it down before it's too late."

There was a heavy sound of impact from the outside wall beside him, but Link knew better than to look away from Rider. Pyrrha must have been having fun with Assassin.

* * *

Pyrrha watched as Assassin dropped to the ground after his impact with the school's wall. Despite the grim and dangerous circumstances, she found herself smiling.

She might not approve of the Grail war, a conflict she had difficulty completely understanding, but she could certainly enjoy the unique opportunity. The techniques she could learn, the challenges she could face. She could almost forget about the danger surrounding her.

Assassin had proved to be an interesting fight so far. While he couldn't overcome her powers, and hadn't seemed to notice them yet, he was quite the accomplished fighter from what she could tell.

He was a great swordsman and was highly skilled at incorporating other weapons as he fought. She'd been forced to deflect several well thrown knives, and the bracer he had on his wrist could fire projectiles as well.

"Had enough yet, Assassin?" Pyrrha asked. "You're getting in the way of something important."

The robed figure got to his feet and his sword reappeared in his hand in that annoying way Servant weapons acted.

"It would seem that you are quite skilled, Lancer," he said with his accented voice. "I must say it is rather attractive."

Pyrrha just shook her head. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Assassin," she said. "I'm far too practiced a fighter to fall for trick like that."

Assassin smiled. "I did not mean it as a trick," he said. "Simply a compliment. You are a foe I cannot afford to show restraint against." There was a sound like an eagle calling in the distance. " _ **Brotherhood of Assassins**_ ," Assassin said.

There was the sound of several, maybe even dozens, of crossbows firing at once, and Pyrrha acted on reflex.

She dodged and spun her lance, Milo, to intercept several crossbow bolts that she couldn't evade in time. She threw her shield, Akuno, toward a stand of bushes, and a form that was robed and hooded like Assassin that leapt from the cover to avoid the attack.

Three other figures like Assassin, dropped from the roofs of nearby buildings and they all readied weapons. One flicked his wrist and readied a thin blade that revealed itself with the motion, while the others drew swords.

 _A Noble Phantasm that allows him to call upon a barrage and allies?_ Pyrrha thought. The cry of an eagle was a significant signal for a very specific sect of Assassins, and a blade built into a bracer was a rather unique weapon. That could only mean one thing.

"Ezio Auditore," she said. "Master Assassin of the Italian Brotherhood."

Assassin smiled. "So much for anonymity," he said. "The Grail must truly be a powerful tool if it can grant you an understanding of who I am. We are from different worlds after all, no?"

As he spoke, his brother assassins began to spread out. _They'll attack in a moment,_ Pyrrha thought. She readied herself. Then Assassin spun his gaze toward the front of the school.

"Kill her," he said. "Others are outside the field, and the barrier looks like it's about to drop." He hurled a sphere at Pyrrha and a cloud a smoke erupted around her as the small bomb struck the ground near her.

Assassin class Servants had an ability that allowed them to hide their presence. The best Assassins were undetectable unless they were actively attacking a target. Pyrrha had gotten lucky in spotting Ezio as he'd thrown his knives at Shirou. If he attacked her here, he could possibly get the drop on her.

The assassins created by his Noble Phantasm, however, did not possess such an ability. Pyrrha spotted the movements in the smoke cloud and readied herself for the assault.

They came at her all at once, slightly staggered so that she couldn't simply stop them with a simple spin with her spear. Pyrrha blocked and delivered a blinding two hit combo to her attacker with Milo, which collapsed down into its sword shape as she moved. Her strikes sent the assassin stumbling back and she immediately dropped to avoid the sword swing and kicked out on of her assailant's legs. Then she rotated onto her back and hurled her shield into the third attacker, ricocheting the plane of metal off of him and into the fourth attacker.

Pyrrha flipped onto her feet and instant later as the shield came back to her arm. Her spear extended again and the weapon became a blur of motion as she slashed, thrust, and spun the spear around herself and toward her first attacker, who had remained on his feet.

The assassin couldn't keep up with her speed and power and his guard fell under her barrage. As his sword was knocked away, she delivered two quick slashes across his chest and the assassin faded away. She spun to face her other attackers as they rose to their feet and thought about what she'd just done.

It didn't feel like killing. These figures were constructs of the Grail, brought into being by Ezio's Noble Phantasm. They were entities to serve a purpose, and nothing more. Then again, looked at from a certain perspective, so was she.

But Ezio had tried to kill Shirou. Shinji was in the process of putting him and her Master's life in mortal peril, and there were too many students in danger on top of that for her to hold back.

And if it came down to it, she'd go through every Servant she had to to keep her Master safe. She deserved that much protection, because she'd been deprived of so much already.

The other assassins were finally almost to their feet and Pyrrha shot toward them before they could get fully oriented and organized. They were about to learn why she'd been called the Invincible Girl.

* * *

"Shinji!" Shirou shouted as he chased Shinji down the hallway.

"Get out of here!" Shinji screamed, terror making his voice shrill. "Stay away from me!" He knocked over a janitor's bucket as he ran, spilling a couple of mops and brooms the students used to clean into the hallway.

Shirou felt a pulse of power and the shadows behind Shinji suddenly surged toward him. Apparently the Matou had a glimmer of ability after all.

Shirou stopped and quickly searched for a weapon. He pulled Assassin's knife from his side intending to throw it at Shinji. If nothing else, a miss would make the Shinji panic and possibly fall over.

The weapon promptly vanished and Shirou grimaced. Then he grabbed one of the fallen brooms and broke it in half over his knee.

He flipped the switch. "Trace on," he said and poured mana into the shaft of wood. He'd been building his mana up like Harry had told him the entire time he'd been conversing with Shinji, using his anger to help fuel the energy.

The shaft became reinforced extremely quickly and he swung the strengthened wood at the charging shadows. There was a hiss-like sound and the shadows dispersed from the strike.

Shinji continued to shout in terror and Shirou resumed his pursuit. "What're you doing, Rider? Why aren't you stopping this guy?"

"I'd say she's doing her job and keeping either Saber from killing you!" Shirou answered. Shinji reached the end of the hall, turning to continue his flight. Shirou put on an extra burst of speed and threw a hard punch, his body instinctively flowing into the oddly familiar forms he'd started using during his sparring sessions with Saber.

"You bastard!" he shouted as his fist connected with Shinji's head.

Shinji was knocked into the wall and began to slump down it. Shiro grabbed him by the throat with one hand and hefted him back up. "Shut down the barrier now, Shinji," Shirou ordered.

"Right," Shinji replied. "Like I'm gonna do that. You think I'm just gonna do what you tell me to?"

Shirou tightened his grip. "Alright, fine. You won't do it?" he said. "Then I guess I'll have to kill you."

Shinji managed to let out a brief laugh. "Now you're bluffing. We both know you don't have what it takes to kill me."

"Just like you how weren't involved with what happened to Mitsuzuri?" Shiro asked. "Harry told me where she really was, Shinji." The Matou's eyes shone with remembered fear. "When it comes to being a mage, neither of us ranks higher than half-assed," Shirou said. "Mages are taught to use magic as a tool to kill, especially other mages. I've been shown that lesson."

Shinji's eyes widened slightly at the words. "Fortunately for you," Shirou continued. "I don't like the idea at all. Magic should be used to protect, not kill. Unfortunately for you, you'll still die if you don't drop the barrier. Because I don't have to save you.

"You think Pyrrha's going to take long in fighting Second Assassin? She seemed really eager to attack you. I wonder if it she'll give you the same chance I am?"

Shinji's breathing tried to quicken, but the grip Shirou had on Shinji's throat prevented it. "Okay, fine," he croaked. "I'll do it, you win, Emiya. Let go of me. I'll shut down the barrier immediately." He turned his head slightly and shouted. "Help me, Rider! Do it! Shut down the Bloodfort!"

A moment later, the red lighting vanished and the stifling power faded away. Shinji grabbed Shirou wrist. "All right, you got what you wanted," he said. "Let me go already."

Shirou leaned forward. "Not until you give up your Command Seals," he said. "I'm not going to let you target people with Rider to fuel your petty vengeance. Give those up and we won't ever have to fight again."

"Are you out of your mind?" Shinji asked. "There's no way you can expect me to do that! Without my Command Seals I won't be able to control Rider! Without her I'll be as good as dead!"

"Then go to Kotomine church," Shiro told him. "It's his job to protect any Master who's out of the fight."

"Shirou!" Saber shouted and someone grabbed the back of his uniform jacket and pulled him back with incredible force.

Something blasted past him with amazing speed and Rider was suddenly in front of Shinji, who coughed heavily and gasped in air.

Shirou glanced over his shoulder and saw Pyrrha standing behind him, eyes locked on Rider and Shinji. Link and Saber joined them a moment later, weapons held at the ready.

"Rider?" Shinji asked.

"We have to get out of here," Rider said.

"Shirou, get back," Saber said. "Rider is intending to release the mana she was using to maintain the Bloodfort."

"Does it have to be like this, Rider?" Pyrrha asked, her eyes and voice sad.

"You know why, Lancer," Rider answered.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," Pyrrha replied. "I suppose you'll be leaving then."

"What the hell is she talking about, Rider?" Shinji demanded. "What secrets have you been keeping from me? Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work. You're no match against three Servants."

"I know all too well that I'm no match against these numbers," Rider answered. "But one thing you don't know is that my Noble Phantasm surpases that of all other Servants. It doesn't matter who they are, they are no match for the blinding speed I am about to unleash."

Rider smiled and lifted one arm, her spike held firmly in one hand. Then she plunged the weapon into her own neck. Blood fountained from the strike and splattered across the walls, ceiling and Pyrrha's shield as she held it before Shirou.

The crimson liquid molded out of the air and into a perfect circle before Rider and Shinji. Then light began to glow from the circle, forming a massive sigil in the air. Blinding, white light shone from the blood and no one could see anything.

There was a flapping sound, like wings from a great bird, and a thud of changing air pressure. Then the light faded away, and Rider and Shinji were gone. The entire hallway; windows, stone, and metal; was completely destroyed.

Shirou was buried under Saber and Link's forms, Link's shield on his back as a means to divert whatever forces had been at work. Pyrrha was curled in a ball, buried under the remains of a metal door.

Link and Saber climbed to their feet and surveyed the damage.

"By the Goddess Hylia," Link said, awed.

"She was true to her word," Saber said. "She only used her Noble Phantasm as a means of escape."

Shirou got to his hands and knees, and felt the mana he'd been generating give out. He slumped forward and darkness closed in on him.

"Idiot," he heard Saber say. "Why did he take the knife out?" Then Shirou was gone.

* * *

He was panting, his body instinctively performing the act to help cool his body temperature. It wasn't like he sweat anymore, not since he'd been hit with that stone. He could feel that sliver of darkness, of Twilight, that forced him into the now familiar beast shape.

The sword rested in a wide clearing, surrounded by stone covered with leaves and moss, the stains of ages gone by. The pillars that had surrounded the clearing still stood, some at their original, glorious heights, while others were only a fraction of that, their remains scattered around the bases that remained.

He padded forward, the weight on his back a familiar comfort as he made his way toward his next goal. As he drew near, the blade of the weapon began to glow with white light, the rich purple of the crossguard, hilt, and pommel serving as a contrast to the bright light.

There was a chime and the weight on his back was blasted off of him and he was forced back a step. Power and air rushed past him, forcing him back. The weapon could sense the darkness that bound him to this shape. It repelled him, as only true purity could.

He growled and kept his feet spread wide, using his strength to hold his ground against the gale. His growl grew into a roar of defiance and he felt that same power that pushed him away move _into_ him.

It rushed through his veins and met that sliver of darkness. The energies warred for control and the light grew brighter and brighter, gaining strength with each second. It shone as bright as the sun and that fragment of darkness was turned away, forced from his body in the wake of that impenetrable light.

He wasn't a beast anymore. He stood tall and proud once again on two legs, rather than four. Without thinking he reached out with both hands and gripped the sword stabbed into the stone floor before him.

He pulled. The light from a moment ago came again, shining from the ground where the weapon's point disappeared into the stone. The weapon slid free with hardly any effort at all. The balance was perfect, as if it was made for him.

He held the sword aloft with one hand in a gesture of triumph. The wind faded away, and sunlight fell into the clearing, dispelling the few remnants of darkness that remained in that once sacred place.

* * *

 **Author's note: And thus the Bloodfort falls. Poor Ezio, he didn't have a clue who he was dealing with.**

 **So yeah, Rider is such an underutilized character in the first two timelines. She doesn't last long in anything other than Heaven's Feel. So, I figured why not show off some of that badassitude. To that end, she was able to hold off** _ **two**_ **saber-class Servants for this chapter. I know that certainly made Warden Myst happy (he's a big Rider fan) and I hope any other Rider fans in the crowd are pleased as well.**

 **This is also the first time Pyrrha has really come out and shown her own combat skill, and we have another secondary Servant Noble Phantasm. I'll be updating his dossier very soon so keep an eye out for that on my profile. :)**

 **Oh, I can't wait for Sunday. We have someone very special coming up.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 _Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight's entertainment is brought to you by random acts of violence._ \- Mass Effect 3.

Rin watched the training cooly. She had to admit, to herself at least, that Emiya's skill with a sword was improving at an impressive rate. He was still considerably outclassed against a Servant, but in a fair fight against even a competent fighter, he'd be able to hold his own.

Saber slammed into Shirou and then delivered a rapid series of strikes that knocked his weapon away and sent him to the ground once again.

Saber stood before him, her face a calm mask. "I think it's fair to say we've done enough training for one morning, Shirou," she said, lowering her weapon.

"You sure are one cool customer, Saber," Rin told Saber as she stepped up beside the Servant. "You two have been going at it for three hours straight and you haven't flinched once."

"I suppose I've just learned to suppress my emotions the second I pick up my sword," Saber said. "It's not something I've given much thought to."

 _Interesting,_ Rin thought. "Perhaps that's what women have to do strategically to gain the edge in a sword fight" she mused, putting her hand to her chin in thought. "Instead of trying to overpower your opponent physically, you overpower them mentally."

 _It's certainly like that with mages,_ she thought. _Battles between mages are all about who has the most imaginative or creative techniques and codes._

"I don't think that's it at all," Saber answered. "I've never once thought of myself as a woman. Nor have I ever been treated as one. The only reason I ever came to this era was to fight, not to be consumed by something as trivial as my gender."

Rin furrowed her brow at that. A few days ago, she wouldn't have even blinked at what Saber had just said said. Now though…

Her soul gaze with Harry had forced her to think of Servants in a brand new light. They weren't simply constructs with heroic shells anymore. They were… something else. Not quite human and not quite familiar, but some kind of grand mixture of the two generally contrary states of being. It was easier to think of a Servant as a tool to be used when you couldn't see the shape of their soul, have that image burning irrevocably into your mind.

She'd experimented when she'd been alone, trying to refer to Harry by Caster. She hadn't been able to do it once, much to her confused irritation. Caster was just so… bland. Missing the greatness she'd seen in his declaration.

Rin set aside those thoughts for now. She'd have to find time and seriously reflect on what she'd seen and experienced, but later.

"Okay then," she said and stepped up to Shirou, who was still sitting where he'd fallen. "Now it's time for your lessons with me."

"What?" Shirou asked. "Don't I get a break?"

Rin grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close to make sure the full force of her words could reach into his skull. "You have a ton of stuff to learn today so stop slacking and get on your feet." Then she hauled him to his feet and proceeded to drag him out of the dojo.

She ignored his complaints and dragged him into her room where'd she'd set up a collection of oil lamps for him to reinforce. The best way to get him out of his magical ineptitude was simple practice.

Treating glass was one of the first things any apprentice mage was taught and there was no point in teaching him anything else until he'd mastered that basic skill. Glass let the energy flow easily and if he couldn't even do that then working with more advanced materials that would give resistance was pointless.

"We'll start where we left off," Rin said. "Try to strengthen each of these lamps."

"I've got to do all of them?" Shirou complained.

Rin ignored that. "Meanwhile," she said. "I'll be out for a bit. I expect you to be done by the time I get back." Then she left with a final: "Have fun."

She made her way toward the shed where Emiya tended to spend his nights. The faint traces of mana were enough to tell her this was where his workshop was. While it was normally impolite to look through a partner mage's workshop, she doubted that Emiya was skilled enough to have any actual magical information inside the shed, and that he would have _anything_ worth stealing even if he had.

She opened the shed door and took a look inside. Unlike her own workshop, this one served multiple functions. There was a tarp set out with various objects laid carefully across it, likely where Emiya practiced his magecraft, but there were also other projects and containers stored in here.

Shirou had a reputation for being helpful, particularly with repairing damaged items and equipment.

 _This must be where he does repairs at home,_ she thought. If she did even a cursory search, she was certain she'd find more conventional tools to repair damaged objects. Rin found herself getting annoyed. Magecraft was supposed to be something kept away from prying eyes and away from 'normal' life.

The fact that Shirou kept his magic workshop in a place also dedicated to more mundane works smacked in the face of the tradition of studying magecraft.

 _On the other hand,_ Rin thought. _Who'd think to look for a magic workshop inside an_ actual _workshop?_ She certainly wouldn't have. Sure, the shed had the physical requirements to help keep magical energies contained, but it didn't have any of the trappings of a normal magic workshop, either. Ignoring the bounded field around the house, a full Association mage could take a tour of the entire building and probably never realize that a mage was actually living there.

She turned her attention to the collection of items on the tarp. They really weren't anything special. A square shaft of wood, a stone, a pocket knife, and a few other items that seemed to simply be random.

Rin grimaced at Shirou's gall. He couldn't even treat glass, yet he was using sturdier materials to try and practice on his own. No wonder he had so much trouble with glass. He was used to something that _needed_ more power.

Rin picked up the pocket knife out of curiosity. The light streaming in from the open door was gleaming off the metal in an odd way. She rotated the knife and examined every surface of the weapon.

Her brow furrowed. The knife was… exquisite. It was clearly a pocket knife that could be found almost anywhere, but the quality of the individual parts far exceeded what they should have been.

Footsteps approached and Saber spoke up as Rin carefully unfolded the knife and examined the small blade. "What is going on, Rin? What are you doing in here?"

"Just who exactly is this guy?" Rin asked, more to herself than to Saber. The edge of the blade looked amazingly sharp and she didn't dare touch it. "This is unbelievable. Saber, did you know he was doing this?"

"What are referring to, Rin?" Saber asked. Rin held up the knife.

"This," she said. Saber took the knife and examined it.

"It's certainly a serviceable weapon," she said, looking at the knife before folding it and handing it back to Rin. "Far better than the outside would suggest." Saber met Rin's eyes. "What you suggesting, Rin? I am a knight, not a mage."

"Believe me, he's not a mage either," Rin said.

"I sense an insult coming," Harry said, materializing next to Rin and Saber.

Rin gave Harry a flat look. "And just where have you been?"

"Teaching Shirou how to reinforce glass," he answered in that annoyingly smug tone he used occasionally.

"You did what?" Rin asked. "How did you do that?"

Harry sighed. "Rin," he said, seriously. "Have you ever taught someone how to do magic?"

Rin's cheeks flushed. "What does it matter? I was taught by my father and I remember how he taught me. Kirei's methods were the same as my father's."

"Wasn't Kirei taught _by_ your father?" Harry asked. "Of course his methods would be similar. But Shirou was taught by Kiritsugu, who, presumably, had his own method of teaching."

"What are you saying?" Saber asked.

Harry paused, as if looking for the right words. "Where I come from, practitioners have innate talents. Some people are better at certain forms of magic than others. I'm good at big stuff. Throwing and redirecting energies, sending out power to resonate with something similar, blowing stuff up, and so on. My apprentice, Molly, had a _big_ talent for subtle magic. Illusions, veils, and mental magic. Stuff that really took a steady hand."

"Your point?" Rin asked.

"Just like how everyone has certain talents, everyone learns in their own way," Harry explained. "Repetition and lectures aren't going to help Shirou like they did you. His brain just doesn't work like that, and his affinity for magic certainly isn't going to work that way either. I think he learns better in more direct and pragmatic settings." He turned his attention to Saber. "When did Shirou start getting better at swordplay?"

"After Archer nearly killed him," Saber answered. Then she cocked her head to one side in thought. "You think that his encounter with Archer had something to do with that?"

Harry shrugged. "I think you get a lot more bang for your buck when you throw a jet of fire in a real battle than you do on a practice field. He's always performed well under pressure. I just got him to reinforce an oil lamp by giving him a fixed picture of what to do in his head. Once he had that his instincts seemed to help him the rest of the way. He does repair work, for God's sake, he spends all of his free time working with something directly and clearly in front of him."

Rin examined the pocket knife in her hand. "A clear picture of what to do," she muttered. Then she stormed off toward her room.

"Rin?" Harry asked.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this!" she said, putting the folded knife into her pocket and throwing open the door to her room. The collection of lamps she'd left on the floor still sat there, one shattered, one shining with the results of a successful strengthening. The rest sat there, untouched, and Shirou was nowhere to be found.

Rin started to get annoyed. "Harry?" she demanded. "Where the hell is Emiya?"

The wizard came up behind her and peered into the room. "Either he has Molly's talent for veils, or he's snuck off somewhere. Where the hell would he have gone?"

"I swear I'm going to kick his ass when I find him," Rin muttered and made her way to the kitchen.

When she entered the dining room to discover Shirou wasn't there either, she turned to Saber.

"Saber," she said. "You should be able to sense what direction he is."

Saber turned and pointed. "He's that way, that much I can tell." Then she narrowed her eyes. "Isn't the school that way?"

Harry made his way to the phone and started pressing buttons.

"What are you doing?" Rin asked.

"These things are supposed to keep a record of what calls have been made recently," he said. "If I can just figure out how to… There we go. The house got a call not too long ago." His face went hard as he read the caller ID. "Get Archer," he said.

His staff, coat, and other magical gear materialized around him and he raised one hand.

"Wait!" Rin shouted. Harry turned to face her. "It's broad daylight," she said. "We can't just go charging in wherever Emiya is. The first rule of mages is 'no witnesses'. That goes double for the Grail war."

"Rin, Shirou got a call from Shinji Matou. Whatever is happening, it's going to get messy."

"Even Shinji isn't stupid enough to do something blatantly obvious," Rin said, bluntly.

"Are you certain about that?" Harry asked.

Rin's face fell slightly as she considered the problem. "We'll hurry," she said, making her way to the front door. "But we're not charging in there ready for a fight. If Shinji is doing something, then you can beat him up when we're done stopping it."

The group made their way out of the house and toward the high school. They made it about 10 feet from the gate when Saber and Harry suddenly stiffened.

Then Rin felt something long and flexible wrap tightly around her throat, cutting off her airflow and beginning to suffocate her.

Adrenaline surged through her system and everything around Rin seemed to happen in slow-motion. Her hands moved instinctively to try and pry the constricting cable from her throat. The cable, however, refused to even budge, held there by an unseen will or force.

Lines of red soared through the sky from one side. Archer had let loose with a barrage. That confirmed Rin's fears. Only one type of person would attack her in the street: A Master who was either extremely foolhardy, or extremely clever.

In this strange slow-time moment, Rin could now sense the barest hint of a bounded field. It would have to have been fully empowered at just the right moment, when they were all inside the boundary and too far away to sense or escape it in time for it to matter.

Archer's arrows twisted and hurtled down to a target somewhere behind her. More lines of light shot out from somewhere else and intercepted each and every one of Archer's own arrows.

 _The second Archer,_ Rin thought with alarm. She twisted around to try and see her attacker.

Harry moved faster, a blur of billowing black, as he spun and pointed his staff at her attacker and shouted, _"Arctus Spinai!"_

Shards of ice coalesced in the air and shot behind her. She heard one heavy impact before there was a blaze of heat.

Rin completed her turn and the cable around her neck twitched and slid down her body, rapidly wrapping around her body and twisting itself to flow around her form effectively. In the blink of an eye, her arms were tied behind her back and her legs were bound together, forcing her to fall over. The cable also snaked around her chest and tightened, adding pressure against her ribcage, further complicating her situation.

Now that she had managed to turn around she was able to examine her attacker. He was older than she was, but not too much, maybe in his early 20s, and looked completely ridiculous for a mage.

He wore cowboy boots with honest to god spurs and black, denim jeans with glowing runes scattered across the tough fabric. His shirt was a plain black tee with more runes under what she suspected was a full tactical vest. Around his waist was a black leather belt with a pair of gun holsters, guns included, and a buckle in the shape of a 5-pointed star. The silver of the buckle reflected the sunlight from the noon day sun into her eyes.

His hands were encased in black, fingerless gloves. His right hand held a smooth wooden hilt of a lasso. The silver cord had blood red symbols spiraling around it. This was what was wrapped around Rin's throat and bound her body.

Blood ran down his left arm from a slash caused by Harry's spires of ice.

Dresden lifted one hand and unleashed a bolt of force at the man. The man, who Rin started referring to in her head as 'the Cowboy' since she saw his stupid boots, smirked and spoke, his voice heavy with a texan accent.

" _Espejo de sangre_ ," he incanted and lifted his left hand. The glove on this hand had a circular mirror sewn onto the back, the pane of reflective glass inscribed with blood-red symbols akin to the ones on the lasso currently strangling her.

The bolt of force struck the mirror and reflected back at Harry, who was sent flying off of his feet by the rebounded strike.

"Oops," he said, the insincerity clear in his voice. He drew the gun from the left holster, revealing an old-fashioned, six-shooter pistol and levelled it at Harry, who was already back onto his feet.

 _Odd,_ Rin thought. _For a Caster he's awfully quick and resilient. His agility stat isn't all that high, so how's he moving so fast?_

The lasso's cord suddenly tightened and Rin let out as much of a gasp of pain as she could.

"Move even a hair closer, Saber, and I set this lasso on fire," the Cowboy said. "It's always a shame when a great beauty gets killed. You can stab me if you want, but you can't move faster than a thought."

 _He thinks I'm pretty?_ Rin thought and then tried to figure why _that_ thought would even cross her mind. That was when she realized that her body was screaming for oxygen and that her rational side was quickly fading away. _Oh, that's why,_ she thought. _My brain's decided to fall asleep on the job._

Saber, who had switched into her armor at some point, stopped moving, but didn't lower her concealed sword.

The Cowboy looked at Rin. "Now I know you're probly 'bout to pass out," he said. "So here's the deal. I loosen this enough for you to breathe, and you don' try an' go all punchy-punchy, stabby-stabby. Don't think I won't set you on fire to keep these guys back. Kay?"

Rin, somehow in her daze, managed to give the Cowboy a look that conveyed how idiotic she thought he was being.

He flashed her a grin and the lasso loosened just enough to let her breathe. She immediately gasped in air and began coughing. She was really, _really_ tempted to try and pitch some magic at him, but was certain he'd follow through with his threat to kill her if she tried anything.

 _"Are you alright, Rin?"_ Archer asked in her mind. _"Don't speak. Simply nod or shake your head."_ Rin nodded, hiding it in her coughing fit to keep it from the Master in front of her. _"His Archer is very skilled,"_ Archer continued. _"I'm attempting to locate them, but this Master has planned this out enough to keep us locked in a stalemate for now."_

"Now," the Cowboy said. "I figure I got the advantage of position, since none of y'all can do anythin' without the lady here dyin' pretty horribly. But, y'all got the advantage of time, since we can only stand here for so long before your buddy shows up. So how 'bout we keep this plain 'n simple?"

"Sure," Harry said, affably. His tone was certainly friendly, but his body language was aggressive. He was tensed, like a lion about to spring on its prey. Cold air seemed to radiate off of him in a constant breeze.

"Now, now, Dresden," the Cowboy answered. "Let's not go gettin' any crazy ideas. I've got a young lady hostage."

Harry went completely still, shock on his face. The Cowboy's green eyes lit with excitement.

"You know his name?" Rin asked, shocked into speech.

"Nothin's unknowable, Miss Tohsaka," the Cowboy said. "All you gotta do is know where to look. Imma big Butcher, fan. I didn' think you'd make a second coat for your Master, Dresden. Great thinkin'."

"What do you want?" Saber demanded. "You say we have the position of time, but you seem to be stalling for something. Are you, perhaps, waiting for the moment so your other Servant can get into position?"

The Cowboy simply rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "We can get to the point. Now, regardless of what you might think, I don't like leavin' messes, or killin' people that don' deserve it. So here's what I want: You have Command Seals, Tohsaka. Command Seals that I find to be pretty useful. You give me those, and I go away. I won' even take away your arm or magecraft. I will need your hands, sadly since I don't think you're just going to give the Seals to me, but them's the breaks."

There were only a handful of ways to strip Command Seals from a host. Someone could give them up willingly, they could be ripped out of a bearer; costing them at least the use of their arm, if not their magic circuits; or they could be removed physically by separating the body part they were attached to from the bearer's body.

"Cutting her hands off seems like a mess, John Wayne," Harry said.

The Cowboy tsked. "Never was a fan of John Wayne, believe it or not. He was a little too racist for me."

"Regardless," Harry said. "She kind of needs them."

"I'd be more than willin' to give 'em back when I'm done," he answered. "I ain't cruel, Dresden. Just practical."

The whip suddenly tightened around Rin's throat again. "Hey!" the Cowboy said. "Don' go pullin' in that much power, wizard. If I think you're pulling a spell or your Phantasm on me, I get all Occam on this shit and cut my losses."

Harry let out a breath that became a cloud for a brief moment. The Cowboy blinked in surprise at that.

 _"So,"_ a woman's voice said in Rin's mind. _"He doesn't know everything about my host. Good to know."_ Rin's eyes snapped around in alarm trying to find the source of the voice. _"Relax, child,"_ the voice said. _"Surely you haven't forgotten the dream, have you? I just need to see with your senses for a moment."_ There was a pause. _"The cord works with his will,"_ Lash said. _"We suspect that will be his method of removing your hands. That will also be the moment when he is most vulnerable. Should his Servants truly prevent us all from acting, I will shield you from the pain like I did from the dreams."_

"Kinda creepy isn't it?" Harry asked. "Cutting her hands off and then giving them back?"

"If she's creeped out by it, then I'll pay for some new Association hands," the Cowboy said. He suddenly narrowed his eyes at Harry.

Rin, annoyed at the fact that they were talking about her like she wasn't there, struggled to try and see what had caused the other Master to become suspicious. She saw it a moment later.

Harry had relaxed his posture, and stood there much more calmly than he had a moment ago.

The Cowboy tightened his grip on the lasso, which caused Saber to tense.

"You're plannin' somethin', Dresden," he said. Harry smiled wolfishly.

"Maybe I am," he said. "But all it really comes down to is what you're going to do."

The man tensed and started to answer, when a massive wave of energy rushed past them. Everyone turned and looked over at the high school in the distance. A massive dome of blood red energy surrounded the collection of buildings and radiated a sense of utter wrongness.

"Oh, fuck me!" the Cowboy complained. "I was gonna mess with that thing tonight."

There was a series of detonations not too far away and a green and blue form flew through the air straight toward the group.

Words drifted through the air, alien and unfamiliar to Rin, but in a flowing rhythm that meant magic. The lasso around Rin went slack and rapidly retracted into the handle in the Cowboy's hand. Rin had just enough time to spin and look at the other Master in shock before a dark, thick cloud of smoke surrounded them all. She couldn't swear to it, but she thought she saw him wink at her as he vanished in the cloud.

 _"Ventas Servitas!"_ Harry shouted, and an arctic gale gusted around Rin and dispersed the smoke. The Cowboy and what had to have been his Archer were completely gone. So was Saber.

* * *

 **Author's note: So yeah, remember that first interlude? That's come back. Say hi to our new characters! The Servant is mine, and we'll cover her more later. :) The new Master is actually Warden Myst's.**

 **Speaking of, here's a message from our sponsor:**

 _ **Well, I finally get to make a note. How awesome is that. Warden Myst here, and I am so happy that the Cowboy finally gets some screen time. Sure, it was tying up our ever delectable tsundere but you can't win them all. As with most of the servants, both Nevada and I worked hard to make sure that our Cowboy was just as attached and a part of the war as the other masters. You'll just have to wait and see where it all comes together. Hope y'all continue to enjoy our delightful little tale and I'll be sure to comment again the next time our dashing Texan shows up. Question or comments? Feel free to DM either me or Nevada. Till next time!**_

 **So we actually have a ton of stuff going on in this chapter. The Cowboy and the second Archer (I'm curious if anyone can figure out who it is) are only one small part of it.**

 **We've got some Rin and Harry development here, which was fun. Rin really hasn't taught anyone before, so it was certainly a student moment for her as well. Speaking of Rin, now she can hear the little bird's voice too. More on that later as well.**

 **Oh, one thing I should probably bring up. The greatest weakness of the secondary Servants is the fact that the** _ **masters**_ **can figure out who they are, as shown by the Cowboy. Temporal displacement can mitigate this somewhat, but that is a distinct weakness in the secondary Servant system. I suppose I could have made the various fandoms not exist in the Nasuverse, but that honestly feels like cheating. Fate/Stay Night is a type of urban fantasy, after all, so it's only fair that I make use of the urban element. Fortunately, most Masters don't get out much.**

 **And because I feel like dropping a fun fact: Our Cowboy here, if this were an animated series, would be voiced by the amazing Troy Baker.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Seriously, I'd love to hear from you guys and it always makes me so happy when I get the alerts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

 _Shame, child, is for those who fail to live up to what they believe they should be._ \- Leanansidhe, Changes

"What?" Rin asked. "When did?" she shook herself, trying to get her brain back into gear.

"Damn, she's fast," Harry said. "I barely saw her before the smoke came."

Archer landed beside Rin, his expression one of annoyance. "That Archer is rather aggravating," he commented. He glanced at Rin. "Are you alright, Rin?"

She nodded. "I'm amazed he didn't kill me when he had the chance. If he couldn't get my Command Seals, he could at least have taken out a rival."

"He appears to have a soft spot for you," Archer said, smirking.

"What?" Rin demanded.

"You probably weren't paying attention to the rope," Archer answered. "But he certainly had a pleasing view while he negotiated terms."

Rin turned bright red as she finally made the connection. The lasso had bound her securely and, now that she thought about where the pressure of the cord had been, likely provocatively as well.

"As amusing as it is to see Rin embarrassed," Harry said. "We're kind of down a Servant and there's giant dome of death over the school. I think we can all safely agree that subtly is out the window."

He slashed at the air with his staff and, with a word, opened a doorway of light. The moved through it and appeared just outside of the now active field surrounding the school. The sheer amount of energy that radiated from the barrier made Rin grit her teeth.

Harry held out his left hand and shuddered. "There's no way we're getting through that," he said.

"Emiya must have used a Command Seal to summon Saber," Rin said. "That would explain why she vanished so quickly."

"So it would appear that we can do nothing," Archer said crossing his arms.

"We can plan for when the barrier drops," Rin said. "If Saber can kill whatever Servant is creating the field, it should dissipate." She thought for a moment, then said, "Archer, circle the field. If we can get a lay of the land we should be able to know when and where to strike once it drops. Harry, stay with me and we'll wait for Archer's report."

Archer leapt into the air and proceeded to make his way around the perimeter of the barrier.

"Okay," Harry said, once Archer was out of earshot. "Now tell me what you're really thinking."

"I hoping that Emiya has Link with him too," Rin said. "That will increase his odds of survival."

"I think Shirou will surprise you," Harry said. Then he peered at the barrier. "Is someone fighting over there?"

Rin focused on the barrier herself. If she concentrated, she could see through the shifting energies of the field. There was a cloud of smoke not too far away from them, and there was a woman absolutely tearing into several robed figures that were attacking her.

Details were obscured by the barrier itself, but one thing was perfectly clear: the woman wasn't even fazed by the four opponents she was facing.

It almost looked like the woman was dancing rather than fighting. She moved her body and her attackers would throw themselves into her weapon and shield. It was beautiful, elegant, and Rin found herself simply staring at the distorted display.

The woman used a spear that was apparently able to adjust its shape, as it shifted from a spear into a rifle, and even into a pseudo-sword. Likely a secondary Servant, then. Just how many Servants were in that field?

The field suddenly rippled and then faded away. Rin blinked in shock and the woman; a tall, athletic warrior with long, red hair, a spear and a shield in hand; turned from the now dead and fading forms of the figures who had been attacking her and leapt from the ground through a shattered window on one of the upper floors and out of sight.

Harry and Rin hurried toward the main school building and Archer mentally reported to Rin.

 _"Well,"_ he said. _"I guess that boy can use his head from time to time. He had Shinji Matou in a chokehold with Saber and Link keeping Rider busy for a little while. And now that red-haired woman is backing him up. But Rider looks like she's planning something. She's far too confident for someone standing against three Servants."_

"Harry," Rin said. "I want you to-"

There was a blinding flash of light from the floor the red-headed woman had leapt to. The light moved down the hall in a beam and Rin saw every window on that floor shatter with the force of whatever was happening.

A moment later, the light faded away and Rin stared at the windows. Harry shot forward with that unusual speed of his and was in the building a heartbeat later.

What on Earth had just happened?

* * *

Shirou woke up in pain. Actually it was getting a little depressing, how often he was waking up wrapped in bandages. But he thanked the pain for what it meant, that'd been involved and been helping those who'd needed it.

He lifted one hand and looked at it, remembering the dream he'd just had. He'd been a dog, or maybe a wolf. And he'd been stripped of that form by a sword he recognized.

 _Was I… dreaming about Link?_ he thought. Link had been turned into a wolf by Caster's spell back at that temple. She had seemed as surprised as Shirou had been at the change. _Maybe it has something to do with his legend,_ Shirou thought. He'd have to ask Link the next time he had a free moment.

"Well, if you're awake, isn't there something you'd like to say to me?" someone asked.

He turned his head and saw Rin standing there in her casual clothes, hands on her hips and examining him. "Tohsaka?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Rin asked, her voice annoyed. "I'm cleaning up your wounds to make sure you don't die, you ingrate."

"Well, at least you're acting normal," he said and closed his eyes. "I guess I owe you another one." Shirou focused his gaze on something unusual. "Is that bruise on your neck?"

Rin flushed and looked away. "It's nothing," she said. "We can talk about it later. Besides don't go changing the subject."

"Okay then," Shirou said. "What happened at the school after I passed out?"

"Kirei dealt with the whole situation," Rin said. "Everyone's fine. There were a lot of students who had to go to the hospital, but none of them are in serious danger. Although…" he voice trailed off and she almost seemed worried.

"What's wrong?" Shirou asked, sitting up. "What happened?"

Rin shook her head. "Sakura's missing. She wasn't in the school when the ambulances were taking care of the students. That, and the redhead Servant who was helping you, Pyrrha, disappeared just as Harry got there."

Shirou grew tense and started to rise, but Rin grabbed his arm. "Emiya, there's no point in you charging off to go looking for her. Harry said he'd be on the case. If he found Mitsuzuri, then he can definitely find Sakura. He'll contact us when he finds her."

Shirou let out a breath and tried, unsuccessfully, to keep away his agitation. "So," he said, trying to find another topic. "What happened to you?"

Rin flushed with color again. "When we realized you were gone, we used Saber to track what direction you were while Harry checked the phone. When we realized you'd been contacted by Shinji, we made our way to the school. Another Master attacked us.

"He caught me off guard and held me hostage against Archer, Saber, and Harry. It was actually Shinji's idiotic pride that saved me from losing my hands. When the Bloodfort rose, his Archer gave him cover and he ran. None of us saw his primary Servant"

Something was clearly making her uncomfortable, but there was a knock on the door and then Harry stuck his head in, before Shirou could try and parse it out.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"No," Rin said quickly. "Did you find Sakura? Why didn't you contact me the moment you found her like I asked?"

Harry smiled. "What if I told you that I was doing _exactly_ what you asked?" he said.

"Harry, I'm not in the mood for any of your immature games," Rin snapped. "Where is she?"

"She's down the hall," Harry said, pointing with his thumb. Rin immediately stormed down the hall and to the room Harry directed her to.

Rin opened the door quietly and Shirou saw her shoulders visibly relax. Then she closed the door and made her way back to Shirou's room.

"How'd she get here?" she asked Harry and Shirou.

Shirou shrugged.

"I don't have a clue," Harry said. "Someone had to have carried her here when no one was paying attention. She's asleep, and likely was when whoever brought her here did so, so she probably won't know."

"Do you think the redhead Lancer could have done it?" Rin asked.

"It's possible," Harry answered. "I'm not sure _why_ she would though."

"Is it possible to steal someone's Servant?" Shirou suddenly asked.

"Technically," Rin said. "Whoever holds the Command Seals is able to control their Servant, mostly. So you'd have to take the Master's Command Seals or willingly pass over control of the Servant to someone else. Why do you ask?"

"Pyrrha," Shirou said. "The second Lancer. Shinji seemed to know her, and she seemed strangely eager to attack him. It was almost like she knew him, and couldn't stand him. She claimed the right to attack him and intervene against him because he threatened her Master with the Bloodfort."

Rin's eyebrows lifted. "You think whoever controls the second Lancer has something personal against Shinji? And that they might be inclined to help Sakura for a similar reason?"

Shirou lifted his arms in a shrug. "I don't know. But something is awfully strange about her and Shinji's relationship. Aren't all the Masters supposed to have two Servants? Why wouldn't Shinji use his second Servant to help him?"

Rin grew thoughtful, then shook her head. "Chasing leads based on incomplete assumptions is going to get us nowhere. Right now, we have to focus on the matter at hand. Resting up and going after Shinji and Rider the first chance we get."

* * *

The day was late, but Shirou sought out Saber before he rested more. Miraculous healing ability or not, there was no getting over an injury as serious as the one second Assassin had inflicted on him without rest. There were dozen of minor injuries that he hadn't noticed right away from being kicked out of the window and being caught by Saber during a three story drop.

He found her resting in the dojo, sitting in her armor with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes as Shirou entered and greeted her.

"Hello, Shirou," she said. "I'm glad to see you're awake and okay." She rose to her feet and fixed him with a hard look. "There's a great deal I'd like to say to you." Shirou rocked his head back with the sheer intensity of Saber's words and expression.

"You intentionally went into a potentially dangerous situation without consulting with me or Link," she said. "Then you went and ignored your own injuries and fought. Don't you understand? Either of those mistakes could have led to your death. The only reason you were as protected as you were was because Link has to follow you everywhere in spiritual form."

Shirou simply stared as Saber continued to speak, her frustration clear and overriding her usual composure. "Why do you make things difficult for me? Do you enjoy it?" She turned her head away in aggravation.

"No," Shirou said. "It's just that I-"

Saber locked eyes with him. "This has to stop, now!" she snapped. "You're not leaving here until you explain to me why you do this!"

Shirou closed his eyes, feeling something like shame. He had been an idiot. The only reason he'd done as well as he had in the Bloodfort was because other Servants had gotten involved. Pyrrha had saved him from Assassin and Link had kept Rider mostly in check.

"I'm sorry," he said. He bowed toward her respectfully. "You're right," he admitted. "I was a complete idiot. You have every right to be mad at me. I'm sorry I made you worry. So long as you and Link are here, I'll never fight alone again."

"Shirou?" Saber asked. "Does that mean you?"

"I know I need your strength," he said. "There's no way I can beat the other Masters alone. I needed help to survive this last fight, and it came from a Servant that wasn't even my own. If I'm going to win, then I'm going to need _your_ help. You're right. I know that now."

Saber was silent for a long moment before she spoke again. "That's good to hear," she said, her frustration gone. "Then I assume you realize that your actions thus far have been a mistake, and going forward I can depend on you to back me up in a supporting role and let me do the fighting?"

Shirou rose from his bow. "No," he said. "Because I'm not saying I think what I did was wrong. I still don't want to see you get hurt. But I need you to fight, so I'm gonna be there next to you, fighting right by your side."

"I can't believe you still insist on this!" Saber snapped, her anger returning.

"This isn't something I'm gonna budge on," Shirou told her. "There's no way that I'm ever gonna bring myself to send you into a fight without me."

They locked eyes for a long moment and Shirou felt the connection between them. It wasn't a soul gaze, like what happened with Harry and Rin, but there was something that passed between them in that moment.

"Well," she said, her posture relaxing and her eyes closing. "At least this stubborn streak of yours is consistent." She opened her eyes. "I would hope that after all we have been through, you realize that I am your sword. Who else beside me should be the one to lend you their power?"

Saber and Shirou took each other's hands and held them, sealing the promise they had made.

"Do I count for anything?" Link asked, leaning around the entrance to the dojo at that moment. His sarcastic grin made it clear that the comment was in jest, rather than seriousness.

Saber jumped in surprise and turned bright red at the sudden appearance.

"O-of course, Link," she said. She hid it well, but Shirou spotted the stutter in her speech. Probably for the first time since he'd met her, Saber was embarrassed. But at what?

Link grinned mischievously. "Is there something I should know?" he asked.

"No," Saber said, a little too quickly. "I was simply checking Shirou's pulse in order to keep tabs on his physical well being."

"Well, you have an interesting way of going about it," Link said.

Shirou looked Link over. There wasn't much he knew about Link, or even Saber. They'd hidden their personal details from him in case a Master or someone like Caster invaded his thoughts. But he was growing more certain that that was a mistake.

Knowing the Servant's story was the way to understand their powers and their weaknesses. But it also provided insight into how that Servant thought and had lived. Knowing Saber's true name was probably all he needed to get the biggest understanding from her.

Link, though… He already knew Link's name and Harry hadn't seemed to have an revelations about the saber. At least, none that he'd shared.

The secondary Servants were tricky. They didn't follow the same rules. Names were enough to understand who they were. It had to come down to something else.

The dream came back to Shirou and he tried to spot significant details on Link's person.

He hadn't changed out of his green tunic and chain shirt, since he could astralize. His eyes fell on Link's left hand and spotted the faded trio of triangles that his Command Seals mirrored. That was something, but it didn't tell him anything.

 _He is a saber,_ he thought. _The secret must be in his sword._ The sword that he had drawn from stone inside an ancient temple.

 _I need to start learning more about these Servants,_ he thought. _If I want to keep them safe, I need to know more about them._

* * *

 **Author's note: Slightly shorter chapter today, but considering what's about to go down that really kind of makes sense.**

 **I've been working at developing Shirou's relationships and understanding of the secondary Servants. Link has largely been a mystery to him at this point, so now we're getting a little development there.**

 **And now we have a tiny little mystery surrounding dear little Sakura. (Not really that hard :D)**

 **Zane: Yep. The Cowboy is an OC created for this story. He'll be coming up some more as well. I wish I could claim complete credit for him, but I personally cannot. Warden Myst, my brother and co-outliner for this story, is the one who did most of the development for him. Warden Myst is my expert on obscure Nasuverse lore and does a ridiculous amount of research in his free time, so if** _ **anyone**_ **could make a Nasuverse character from scratch it'd be him. Warden Myst made him, and my half of the equation is the integration and writing of him in the story itself. We actually have the Cowboy developed to a ridiculous level of detail. We have basically anything we possibly need to know for him in the Nasuverse. I'm happy you're enjoying him and Warden Myst is** _ **ecstatic**_ **. Like, he-was-doing-a-little-dance-he-was-so-happy ecstatic.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts. Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

 _At dawn, we plan._ \- Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, Critical Role.

Shirou nearly died of fright when he was making breakfast the next morning. The house's strange new ability to clean itself was still rather jarring. He hadn't even needed to go shopping for ingredients the previous day.

When he opened the fridge, he found a wide variety of fresh ingredients sitting there waiting for him. Granted several of the cabinets that didn't hold plates and cooking materials had been lined with Cap'n Crunch boxes, but there was enough real food to be serviceable for the morning meal.

That wasn't what scared Shirou. No, what nearly made Shirou jump out of his skin was that when he was setting plates on the table, _Pyrrha_ casually walked into the living room and politely asked him what was for breakfast that day.

Shirou leapt nearly a foot in the air and demanded, "What are _you_ doing here?"

Pyrrha, who'd been smiling at Shirou's reaction, grew sober. She almost looked disappointed. "You haven't figured it out yet?" she asked.

"Figured what out?" Shirou asked.

Pyrrha sighed. "All the pieces are right in front of you, Shirou," she said. "All you have to do is put them together."

Shirou furrowed his brow in thought. _Every Master is supposed to have two Servants_ , he thought. _Yet Shinji only ever used one, Rider. Pyrrha's a Lancer, so she has to be a secondary Servant, since Saber recognized the other one._

Pyrrha poured herself a cup of tea from the nearby kettle while Shirou put the pieces together. She wrapped her hands around the cup and watched Shirou patiently.

Realization struck Shirou in a flash.

"You're one of Shinji's Servants," he said. "That's why he knew you, but he lost control of you at some point, which was why you were willing to attack him."

Pyrrha shook her head. "Not quite," she said, her voice sad. "There are only a handful of ways for a Servant to pass between Masters. Rin Tohsaka covered those with you yesterday after you woke up. You actually have the situation reversed from the truth."

"What are you saying?" Shirou asked.

Pyrrha rose to her feet, setting her undrunk tea onto the table. "I'm saying that if you find Shinji Matou, go for the book he always carries. If you can destroy that, then Rider will do the rest. That will be her only chance."

Then Pyrrha dematerialized.

* * *

Shirou immediately went to look for Saber and Link.

"You want to what?" Link asked.

"I think there's a way to stop Shinji without killing him," Shirou said.

"How, Shirou?" Saber asked.

"Pyrrha came to me this morning and told me that Rider was stolen from her original Master," Shirou said. "She told me that if we could get that book away from him that Rider would be free to act. I don't know what Rider will do, but I doubt she'll listen to Shinji if his hold over her slips."

Saber and Link glanced at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation. What the discourse was about apparently ended inconclusively, because they faced Shirou again.

"What will you do if she _doesn't_ stop listening to Shinji?" Link asked. "Or if we can't get that book away from him?"

Shirou grimaced. "I intend to hold Shinji accountable for what happened yesterday," he said. "But we have to take out Rider before we can do that. And I can only see two ways we can do that. The first is getting that book from him. The second…" he trailed off.

Link nodded. "We'll do what we can, Shirou. Without the Bloodfort to increase her power, one of us should be enough to keep Rider locked down. Failing that, two of us definitely can."

* * *

"Heard you're going after Shinji," Rin said said as they entered the living room.

"How'd you hear that?" Shirou asked.

"A little bird told me," Rin said and took a sip of her tea. "So it's safe to assume you have a fair chance of beating him?"

"What do you mean by a good chance?" Shirou asked, suspicious of her positive attitude toward his skills.

"'No, I was just going to pick a fight with another Master and see what happens,'" Rin chanted, clearly trying to imitate Shirou. "Say that and I'll laugh in your face."

Shirou didn't answer.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha," Rin said, dryly.

"If we were just going up against Rider this wouldn't be a problem," Saber said, coming to Shirou's rescue. "Link and Shirou have gone up against Rider as well, so I'm certain he knows what I'm referring too."

"Rider isn't nearly as powerful as either of us," Link said.

"And if it's a two-on-one or even a one-on-fight I don't think there's any way Rider will win," Shirou added.

Rin looked surprised. "Well," she said. "Maybe you do stand a chance at winning this." She took a cracker from the bowl on the table and took a delicate bite. "Why do you three still looked so depressed about all this?" Rin asked as Shirou and his Servants all looked at each other in worry. "Is there some other issue you're not telling me about?"

"Well, here's the thing, Tohsaka," Shirou said. "Even though Link and Saber had totally outmatched Rider and driven her into a corner, she still managed to get out of it and escape with Shinji. It's her Noble Phantasm."

"So, she's the kind of Servant who has a Noble Phantasm that surpasses her own capabilities."

"I wasn't able to verify this completely, Rin," Saber said. "But it seems the type of magic she uses is similar to yours."

Rin popped the rest of the cracker into her mouth. "Well that's strange," she said. "Because, first of all, modern magic couldn't even come close to beating someone like you."

"True, in the face of a more powerful magic, the weaker one is rendered ineffective," Saber said. "The only types of magic capable of piercing my armor would be what you call 'divine mysteries', or the phantasmal creatures that dwell in the divine realm."

"A magic user then," Rin said, resting her head on one hand. "So, Saber, are you suggesting that Rider is a mage?"

"No, I didn't sense mana of that magnitude with her," Saber said. "Rider's Noble Phantasm has no relation to her personal abilities."

"Then it has to be a summoning," Link said. "She has to be pulling something to her that has that kind of strength."

"And it's probably not an anti-personnel Noble Phantasm either," Saber added.

"What do you mean by anti-personnel?" Shirou asked.

"Ultimately," Link said. "My sword is just a tool to kill people no matter how powerful the mana or spells placed on it. The most it can ever effectively target is one or two people."

"So how is Rider's different?" Shirou asked.

"It means her Noble Phantasm must be anti-army," Rin answered. "Her opponent could be a person, a giant boulder, or a mongolian horde. The anti-personnels are like guns with unlimited ammunition, an anti-castle is like an artillery strike, and an anti-army Noble Phantasm is like a missle with just a one-shot chance."

"Well then, what are we gonna do?" Shirou asked. "A gun can't take down a missile." Then Shirou realized his error. "Oh, I get it. The only way to beat Rider is to take her out before she can even use her Noble Phantasm."

Rin began to clap slowly. "You get a gold star," she said. "The longer the fight gets drawn out, the more we get put at a disadvantage." She rose to her feet and made her way to the door. "Well, at least you've got that figured out."

"Where are you going?" Shirou asked.

"Sorry, but I can't be part of your little Shinji search squad," she answered.

"What do you mean?"

"I've got something of my own to take care of," she said. "I'll be waiting to hear the good news though."

-Interlude-

He stood on the roof of the building, overlooking the city that stretched all around him. The wind at this height was far greater than it would be down on the street below, but it certainly didn't bother him.

Anthony Barnett had learned long ago to suppress his fear response. He still had fear, it was stupid not to, but it kicked in a hell of a lot later than it did even for mages.

Besides, falling off of a skyscraper was nothing to a mage of his skill and lineage.

"You know what we're gonna have to do, right?" he asked.

"Yes," Archer said behind him, her voice resigned. He could easily picture how the cat ears on her head would flatten at the response. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I don't like it either," he assured her. "But I can't think of another way to stop him."

"Maybe the girl will figure something out," Archer said.

He shrugged. "Maybe she will," he said. "But she's an Association mage. Her plan will be the same."

"The girl doesn't hunt Dead Apostles, Tony," Archer countered. "Her first response might not be violence. From what I can tell, she's mostly a researcher."

Tony shook his head. "One of the first things a mage learns is how to be cold," he said. "'To be a mage is to walk with death,'" Tony quoted. "Most mages have no qualms with killing' others. 'Specially other mages."

"Yeah," Archer drawled. "That was real apparent when you let Tohsaka go yesterday. You're definitely the cold-blooded killer mages are supposed to be."

Tony just shook his head. "There was no point in killing' her," he said.

"Admit it," Archer said. "You think she's cute."

"I do _not_ think she's cute," Tony said, his accent thickening slightly with the rapid denial.

Something soft swatted him on the back, probably her tail. "Liar," she said.

"Could we focus on the here and now?" Tony asked. "We got a bunch of kids running around with epic heroes trying to kill each other. Ya know, the Grail war thing?"

Archer snorted. "You'd think they'd screen this thing better," she said. "The war is stupid enough as it is, but to throw people who are willing to kill a school full of children into the mess? Whose idea was this?"

"Why do you think I don't associate with Association assholes?"

He could hear her smirk as she said, "Say that five times fast."

He did, thickening his texan accent as he did. Archer sighed and returned to the topic at hand.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Just keep an eye out," he said. "I know your thoughts on killing' folks." Archer shivered. "You don't' have to do it," Tony said. "I will. It'll be quick."

"Let's go," Archer said. "Before I throw up. Where do you want to go?"

Anthony Barnett pointed to a building in the distance. "Office buildings over there," he said. "There won't be a lot of people around there later, I'll make sure of that. That'll be our spot."

Archer wrapped her arms around him, and he heard her wings come into being. Then they leapt off the building.

-Interlude Out-

Rin found Harry in his workshop, setting up glass beakers and various other equipment.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Rin asked, resting a hand on her hip.

"I'm about to go all paranoid and prepare for every single eventuality that could conceivably happen for the foreseeable future," Harry answered. He set a beaker on a bunsen burner and poured something from a can inside. "That little ambush certainly caught my attention, and I _refuse_ to be caught in that kind of aggravation again."

"So, what are you planning?" she asked, walking over to the table and examining the can. It was a soda can. Jolt Cola, specifically. She tilted her head. She'd never heard of that one.

"Well, I have this handy Item Creation skill," he said. "And I think it's about time I actually started using it." He set out more equipment. "We're starting with potions. I'm gonna whip up a bit of everything. First things first, some escape potions."

"You're telling me you're an alchemist?" Rin said, disbelieving.

"I'm like a classic computer geek, Rin," Harry replied. "I do magic in one form or another and that's pretty much it."

"Computer geek?" Rin asked.

Harry stopped working and fixed Rin with a look. "Rin," he said. "Do you know what a computer is?"

"Yes," Rin said. "It's technology."

Harry sighed. "See," he said to no one in particular. "This is why Gravane never found the freaking book. You spell-types don't _think_. You don't even hex technology by simply _existing_. Why the hell don't you take advantage of that?"

Rin opened her mouth, but Harry lifted a hand. "I'm gonna do the smart thing for once in my life," he said. "And _not_ get into this argument. Yes, I'm an alchemist. I've done most types of magic in some form or another at some point. Including some stuff I'm not particularly proud of."

 _"I believe you've made your point, my host,"_ a voice said in Rin's head. Rin snapped her head rapidly around, looking for the source of the voice.

"Yes," Harry answered. "I know."

"You heard that?" Rin asked. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Huh," he said. "I didn't expect that."

A woman appeared in the room with them. It wasn't the fading into existence that Servants used to materialize. She was simply there in the blink of an eye.

"I only exist within your mind, my host," Lash said. "One of the parts of being a Servant is a connection to the mind of your Master. That's how you communicate from mind to mind and can sense when the other is in peril. And since I exist in your mind, I can exist within hers as well."

Harry's eyes flicked between Rin and Lash. "So," he said. "Uh, this is kinda awkward."

Lash smiled. "It's better that the formal introductions are done now. I've already made myself known to her, so there's no point in keeping it silent anymore."

"Yeah," Harry said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Okay. Rin, this is Lash. Lash, Rin." He fixed Rin with a look as if waiting for a certain response.

"How is this even possible?" Rin asked.

"The Grail does more than simply pull us into this world to fight," Harry said. "It gives each of us the best chance possible to win the Grail. Servants are summoned in their physical prime, and at the peak of their power in accordance to their legend.

"I've been touched by a lot of different powers in my time as a wizard. And I'm remembered by many because of those connections. So when I was summoned, I got access to those powers, regardless of my ability to use them when I died."

"While I existed within my host," Lash said. "I gave him access to my experience, and a part of my own power, Hellfire. When I sacrificed myself for him, he lost that, but was granted something else by the Archangel Uriel. A portion of angelic strength, Soulfire."

"So, thanks to the Grail," Harry said. "I can access all _three_ abilities. Hellfire, Soulfire, and Lash's experience."

Rin began to understand a lot of things that had been happening around her now. She turned her gaze to Lash. "You can alter his mind," she said. "And you used that the night we soul gazed."

"I did," she said. "Because you are connected my host, I am connected to you as well. I can't give you Hellfire, but I can assist you in other ways. I can project imagery onto your awareness, like I am now. I do not actually exist physically, but your senses _believe_ that I do."

Rin looked at Harry. "So why keep this from me?"

"It wasn't important before," Harry said. "Up until yesterday, she basically acted as an extra set of senses and information. Once that Cowboy attacked you, she had to get involved directly, preparing you on the off chance he actually managed to cut your hands off."

"So why tell me now?" Rin asked.

"Because you already knew about me," Lash answered. "I had openly revealed myself to you twice, and the Grail war is starting to become serious. We need to start pooling our resources and preparing. That includes knowing of me and what I can do to assist you in surviving this conflict."

"Alright," Rin said. "What do you suggest?"

"For starters," Harry said. "We need to make sure you're ready to fight."

"I've handled myself just fine," Rin said, defensively. "I think I can survive without any sort of extra training. I'm not a novice like Emiya." Without any warning, at all, something cold and hard was jammed to the back of her head.

"Are you so sure?" the rasping voice of Ghost Rider asked. Rin froze, her eyes moving toward Harry, except he wasn't there. The room was completely deserted except for herself and the hostile Servant behind her.

She could smell the sulfurous fire that surrounded the second Rider. The heat from the flames starting to make her sweat.

She was about to mentally call for Archer, fear pumping adrenaline into her system, when the sensation vanished, and Harry and Lash reappeared in her vision.

 _She can affect my mind too,_ Rin thought. _That's how she shielded me from that dream. How she would've shielded me from the loss of my hands._

"There's nothing wrong with being a researcher, Rin," Lash said gently. "Most wizards even in my host's world do not fight. But you are in a war. Hand-to-hand techniques won't always be able to help you."

"The best way to kill a wizard is the sudden ambush, like yesterday," Harry said. "So we're going to be in production mode. And, while we're at it, I might be able to teach you a thing or two about magic you haven't considered."

Rin fought back the remnants of the terror she'd felt a moment ago. She'd felt so powerless, so weak.

"What do I do?" she asked, her voice shaking just slightly.

"For one thing," Harry said. "Don't let that little display scare you that much. That was only to prove a point. I give you my word that, as long as I'm around, you won't ever get caught in a situation quite that dire." Then he smiled. "Let's have some fun," he said. "And make some stuff that's going to scare the crap out of that Cowboy the next time he gets any ideas."

"He's got mystic codes," Rin said. "And he might actually have magical combat experience."

"Yep," Harry said. "Unfortunately for him, so do I."

"What is your origin and element, Rin?" Lash asked. "I believe those would be the best place to start."

* * *

 **Author's note: Poor Pyrrha. Shirou just doesn't know enough to see what she's saying. Oh well, maybe he'll see in time. :)**

 **I do have bad news for everyone. Life is well and truly a pain in the ass sometimes. Because of things that are happening, I'm going to have to switch back to posting only on Sundays for a while. Once everything has stabilized again, I should be able to switch back to twice a week, but until then it'll only be Sunday. -sigh- Damn it. I really wanted to get through this whole month with twice a week, but no, work had to shaft me. I'm really really sorry everyone.  
** **But I'm not going to waste this opportunity either. I'm coming up on one of the more difficult sections for me and I want to make absolutely certain that I have everything perfect and correctly set up so you all can enjoy the story. So, there's our silver lining.**

 **Back to the good news: We've got a couple more hints about our other Archer as well, so I'm really curious if you all can figure out who she is.**

 **And now we're going to iron out Rin's ability to kick ass and take names. She's done fairly well throughout the original story, but now our wizard is going to go and crank that dial to eleven. Oh dear god… Harry Dresden is about to teach Rin combat applications to magic.  
…**  
 **…**

 **What have I done? What have I unleashed onto the unsuspecting Nasuverse?**

 **Anyway, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts. With everything that's going on right now, I'd really love to know that I'm doing something right and giving you all something entertaining to read. :)  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

 _This might be a game, but it's not something you play._ \- Akihiko Kayaba, Sword Art Online

Their first stop was the Matou mansion. Shinji and Sakura lived in an enormous Western-style house. Before they even stepped onto the property, Shiou could see the damage that had been inflicted on it.

One side of the house had a massive, jagged hole where something had either smashed, or blasted its way through the solidly built exterior of the building. There were also tell-tale signs of repair work being done, although, bizarrely, no one seemed to be around today to help repair the damages.

Saber stood on the stone path leading to the house, her arms outstretched and her eyes closed. While Saber attempted to sense Shinji or Rider's presence, Shirou stood by her side, feeling uneasy.

Now that he was here, he could feel some of what Harry had described. Even in broad daylight, he felt… on edge. He kept catching himself gritting his teeth and glancing over his shoulder as if he was being watched.

Even for a mage family that wasn't as potent as it had been in the past, there were a surprising number of bounded fields in the area, though they hadn't activated when they stepped onto the path.

Link had said that the home's defenses hadn't targeted them until _after_ Harry had entered the property himself. It appeared that whoever had designed the defenses around the home hadn't wanted to kill everyone who got near the building, but had been suspicious of any mage who might walk in looking for a fight.

Apparently Shirou didn't meet whatever requirement the barrier needed to become active. Neither had Saber, though if Rin had been with them, the circumstances might have been different.

Saber lowered her arms and opened her eyes. "Just as we thought," she said. "He's not here."

"Well, knowing him," Shirou said. "The only he cares about is getting revenge on us."

"Do you really think he'll erect another barrier so soon?" Saber asked.

"I don't think, I know," Shirou said. "If he makes another barrier of that magnitude, we can sense it. So instead of looking for Shinji,"

" _We can look for the barrier,_ " Link finished, his voice sourceless thanks to his currently astralized state.

"I'm surprised. That's an an excellent insight, Shirou," Saber said.

"Hey!" Shirou said. "You know, no matter what Rin or Archer says, I'm not a complete idiot." He turned to leave. "Come on. If Shinji's going to erect another barrier, he won't do it here."

" _At least he can only get revenge by coming at you,_ " Link said. " _He might get it into his head to go after someone like Sakura or Rin to try and get to you. But Rin's too good at protecting herself, and as long as Sakura stays in your house, he's never getting near her. Harry should have increased your home's defenses and, even with how open your bounded field is, if Shinji shows up to cause trouble, he's going to get a nasty surprise._ "

Shirou and Saber got a lot of odd looks from the passersby as they methodically searched New City's major buildings. They didn't get the sense of an active barrier, so they were forced to go building to building to try and sense the traces of a Bloodfort that was still building up a charge.

The sun was setting when Shirou had to stop for a second. He bent forward and laid his hands on his knees, his face set in an expression of pain.

Saber turned around when she noticed that Shirou wasn't following her. "Shirou, is something wrong?" Panic rushed through her when she saw her Master and she rushed back to him. "Shirou," she said, grabbing his arm. "Come with me."

She ignored his protests and pulled him into the park that was nearby. When she found an empty bench, she firmly sat him down.

He immediately tried to get back up, but a wave of dizziness struck him from nowhere and his vision faded out. Strength left his legs and he flopped back onto the bench.

"It seems your body has finally gotten your attention, hasn't it?" Saber asked, her hands on her hips in an annoyed gesture. "This is what happens when you push yourself too hard and you're still recovering from an injury."

"It was one knife wound," Shirou complained. "It shouldn't be affecting me this much."

" _Yeah,_ " Link said. " _Just one knife wound. From_ Assassin _. Do you think he just throws knives around for fun? He hit you in a rather vital spot, Shirou. And I've got 20 rupees that says the blade was probably poisoned too. Plus, Rider threw you out the window and Saber had to catch you. You've got dozens of minor injuries and one major one that's well hidden._ "

Which, Shirou was forced to admit, made a lot of sense. "Sorry," he said. "I'll be back on my feet in a few minutes. I guess I just need to rest a bit."

Saber gave Shirou a look. "Amazing. Not a single word I say ever gets through to you, does it?" She stepped aside and sat down on the bench next to him. "If you don't want to rest alone, I'd be more than happy to join you. One must be rested to wage a battle."

" _Okay,_ " Link said. " _Then I'm going to continue the search. If I see Shinji or sense the barrier I'll give you a signal._ "

Then his presence disappeared before Shirou or Saber could say anything. The two sat there for a moment, their thoughts kept to themselves. Link's departure made sense, even if it was abrupt.

Saber suddenly moved closer to Shirou, their bodies now touching. Shirou's face went red and he turned to look at Saber. He met her jade green eyes and her face was very close to his own.

"Shirou, your color seems worse than it was a minute ago," she observed, watching him closely.

Shirou lurched back the small distance that was left to him by the park bench. "My color's fine," he quickly assured her. "My face isn't flushed or anything. I promise."

"I think it would be better if you could lie down," she glanced at the park bench and appeared to be gauging its length. "Unfortunately, there's not much room here." She grew thoughtful for a moment before laying a hand on her lap. "You could rest your head here if you like."

The innocent suggestion brought back the memory of her standing naked in the hallway and Shirou began to panic.

"Not necessary," he said quickly. "I just need to sit for a second, then I'll be fine." He looked away and rested his head on his arm.

The bench was wood, and his position was definitely uncomfortable, but the discomfort helped drive away the image of her naked. His exhaustion came on him and he forgot his discomfort as darkness took him.

* * *

Rin sat next to the sleeping form of Sakura and watched the girl sleeping peacefully. Rin's motions were careful so that she wouldn't wake the sleeping girl. The effects of the Bloodfort must have been intense to have rendered the girl unconscious for so long, though Sakura appeared completely untouched by the Fort's effects from what Rin could tell.

Unless something else was keeping her asleep, of course, but she hadn't sensed any sort of spell or mana effect on Sakura. She'd checked for that immediately.

Harry was still in his workshop, or laboratory, as he called it, working on potions and other objects that might prove helpful in the days to come. The Item Creation skill was far more versatile than Rin had originally thought. In order to create mystic codes, objects that had complicated spell works or vast amounts of mana stored in them, most mages needed high quality or ancient materials. But he was 'a blue-collar wizard that could make good use of more conventional materials' to make his equivalent to codes.

As a Servant, and one with a spiritual familiar and the shadow of an ancient supernatural entity in his head as well, he'd even figured out how to speed the process up so that Rin would have something new to work with rather soon.

Rin, however, didn't have that kind of boost, so she needed a break every once in a while while Harry could work seemingly endlessly. Archer was off being Archer so Rin had decided to spend the time relatively alone.

So she sat with the sleeping Sakura and let her thoughts drift to places she normally didn't let them. Where she normally _couldn't_ let them.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Pyrrha asked as she materialized beside Rin. Rin didn't even flinch at the sudden appearance. This was actually something she'd expected to happen earlier.

"You're the one who brought her here," Rin said. It wasn't a question, both of them understood that. She didn't turn to face the Servant, but kept watching Sakura.

"There wasn't exactly anywhere else I could take her," Pyrrha answered. "I couldn't take her to the Matou house, Shinji would check there. The hospital was likewise out. I'm not planning on painting a target on a building full of people Shinji had already harmed, even if they weren't the intended victims."

"So you brought her back here, where'd she'd been staying for days now."

"Two Sabers, an Archer, and a Caster guard this place," Pyrrha said. "This is probably the most secure building in the entire city, with the possible exception of Ryuudou temple."

Rin finally turned to look at the Lancer, noting that the Servant was in casual clothing rather than in her armor. "How do you know about the temple?"

Pyrrha just shook her head. "Rin," she said. "I've been watching this place for a while now. The bounded field that protects this place hasn't stopped me from coming and going as long as I'm not hostile to anyone who lives here."

The redhead turned her gaze onto Sakura. "And I am definitely not hostile to anyone who lives here. If anyone, like Shinji, had gotten the idea to attack this place, they would have had to deal with me as well."

Rin turned her gaze back to the sleeping girl. "Why hasn't she woken up yet?" she asked the Servant. "You say you've been watching, so why has Sakura been sleeping since the Bloodfort?"

An uncomfortable silence was her only response. When Pyrrha finally did speak, it was with the slow speech of someone choosing their words with extreme care.

"I think it's best if Sakura stays asleep until things have become more stable," she answered.

Rin spun to face the Servant. "You're keeping her asleep? Why?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "I can't tell you that."

"The Hell you can't!" Rin snapped, rising to her feet. "How're you even doing it anyway? There's no spell or binding on her. I checked."

"I… don't really know how I'm doing it," Pyrrha admitted. She stepped forward and laid a hand on Sakura's forehead. Red light surrounded her hand and then flowed into Sakura before fading away a moment later. "My aura is only supposed to be able to affect my own body. Shielding me and gradually healing my wounds. But ever since I came to this world, I've been able to control it more directly. I can… move the energy around. I'm scared about experimenting with it. I just touch her, and let the energy flow into her. Whatever it's doing after that is keeping her asleep."

Rin's eyes narrowed. "You didn't answer my other question," she said.

"I can't answer that question," Pyrrha told her. "I _can't_."

"Why?" Rin demanded.

"Because It will _kill_ her!" Pyrrha snapped. The Lancer was suddenly right in front of Rin, her casual clothing gone and replaced by her armor, spear, and shield. Her green eyes bored into Rin's blue ones. "You're supposed to be the Second Owner," she said, almost pleadingly. "A mage who watches over a spiritually rich area. Go ask your Caster what it means to be a Warden. Maybe that will help you piece together the truth." Then she disappeared, leaving Rin alone with only her thoughts and the sleeping Sakura for company.

* * *

Shirou awoke to a sunless sky. He rubbed his head and turned to where Saber last was beside him. "Did I doze off or something?" he asked.

"You did," Saber answered. "For a little over an hour."

"What'd you let me do that for?" Shirou demanded. "We don't have time to take naps in the middle of the day."

"Resting is a necessary action," Saber replied, calmly.

Shirou sighed in defeat. Saber certainly wasn't going to apologize. "Well, I do feel a lot better." He got to his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets as he said: "I just wished I could've crashed out someplace else."

Saber gave her Master a curious look. "Do you have some kind of connection to this place, Shirou?"

He turned to face her. "Well, yeah," he said. "I guess that I never told you, huh? This is where I used to live when I was just a little kid," he explained. Saber's eyes widened in surprise.

"Then there was this huge fire," he continued. "And I lost both my parents, and my house, and then… Well, I don't remember anything before that. And then my dad came and saved my life, and not long after that he adopted me." Saber continued to stare at Shirou.

"I heard that this place served as a battleground in the last Grail war," he said. He walked forward a few steps, lost in his narrative. "It's kinda ironic that I survived that war just to become a Master in this one."

"Shirou," Saber said. "Is this why you go to such great lengths to prevent people from getting hurt?"

Shirou turned to face Saber, surprised at the question. Saber had risen to her feet at some point. "Because you lost so much in the last Grail war, you go out of your way to keep others from that same fate."

He watched her for a moment, trying to puzzle out where she was going with her point. "Maybe it's something even simpler than that," he finally answered. "When my dad saved me ten years ago, I was so happy. Words can't even describe it. But, I knew I was the only one to survive that fire, and that's not an easy thing to live with.

"So many people were begging to be saved that day, and the only one who got that wish was me. And that's what this is about. I owe something to all those who died, and the very least I can do is to prevent this thing from happening again. If I were to let another tragedy of that magnitude unfold, I would never be able to look those people in the face."

"So, as a consequence, you have zero interest in preserving your own life," Saber said.

"Huh?" Shirou asked.

"You value others more than you value yourself," Saber said, kindly. "And that is a very noble sentiment. But, mark my words, you will come to regret that choice one day." Shirou's expression hardened slightly. "You should value your own well-being far more than you do." Shirou didn't reply.

 _"Shirou,"_ Link's voice said in his mind. _"You're not going to believe who I just found."_

"Shinji?" he asked. Saber gave him a look, waiting for an explanation.

 _"Sadly, no,"_ Link said. _"But I did find the second Archer. It looks like she wants to play, so I hope you and Saber are looking for Shinji and Rider again. I'm going to be a bit busy."_

"We're heading out now," Shirou said.

* * *

His heart beat once.

Link stood in the empty street, his eyes flicking around, noting cover and possible points of fire, sword and shield in his hands.

This wouldn't be like his normal fights. Bokoblins and twili creatures were usually close range fighters. There was the occasional one that knew how to use a bow or had an ability to fight at a distance, but, usually, they came at you straight.

An Archer class Servant, however, was something else. Someone specialized in distance fighting would approach the fight differently. They would engage on their own terms, with a position already established and with the element of surprise.

He'd only caught sight of her for a second, after who knew how long of playing cat and mouse. All he'd ever been able to see was a flash of blue and green from the corner of his eye. He never felt her presence as he moved through the city. Now that he was in a deserted alleyway in an empty part of town, he didn't dare move until he'd covered every angle an attack could come from and planned his possible responses with care.

He considered the possibilities, the weapons she might have ready. Rin had said while Shirou was recovering that the second Archer had been a woman, and that she'd been good enough to stop her own Archer from being able to assist her when she'd been attacked.

Lifetimes of battle experience surged through his consciousness in an instant, outlining, planning, and preparing. This wouldn't be like the fight with second Assassin. He'd been cursed then, the triforce shielding him with his beastial shape, and second Assassin was apparently a master of extremely close range fighting.

This was a fight he _knew_. He'd been a wolf for one life. He'd been a swordsman for dozens.

His left hand tightened around the hilt of the Master Sword, his triforce glowing slightly. He kept one particular patch of cover on a nearby roof in his field of view. That's where he'd strike from with a bow if the situation was reversed.

His heart beat once.

The shaft of the arrow cut through the air as it was released from the string. Link's counter stroke wasn't about speed or strength, but rather timing. He spun and swung his sword in one fluid motion, slicing the shaft in half with a single stroke of his sword.

The shield in his other hand shifted as he mentally reached into the magic satchel and withdrew a claw shot. He leveled it at the ledge nearby the firing position and engaged it.

The claw shot from the device around his hand and latched itself onto the ledge before retracting itself, and dragging him through the air after it.

The second arrow to fly missed him by a hair, and he lurched to the wall just under the ledge. His feet hit the wall and he immediately climbed over the ledge and spun to face the shooter. His claw shot disappeared and his shield returned.

The best way to deal with an archer was to get in close, fast, and remove their ability to fight at their greatest advantage. There was a reason archers took the high ground. It wasn't just about range and sightlines. Higher ground was easier to defend and made the attacker a more predictable target. Now that he was on level ground with her, however, he could close the distance quickly and tip the battle in his favor.

With a battle cry, he charged the Archer, bringing his sword to bear.

The woman moved out of the shadows and sprinted away from her position and leapt off of the roof. Twin pairs of translucent, yellow, angled wings materialized on her back and she swept upwards and into the sky.

Now that she was airborne, he could properly make out her features from the moonlight.

She had a thin, but muscular build and wore a robe-like dress that was missing the left sleeve. She had a pair of shorts under the dress and a simple armored chest piece. Her hands were wrapped with bands of leather, like handless gauntlets and she held a beautiful white bow in one hand.

Her hair was bright blue and she had a pair of large, blue cat ears on her head and a blue cat tail stretched behind her. Her hair was short, except for short twin tails that framed her face.

The archer let out a frustrated sound and spun in the air, unleashing a barrage of arrows at Link as she moved. The fact that she was upside down certainly didn't affect her marksmanship.

Link skid to a stop and deflected the barrage with his shield and his sword. Link's own bow appeared in his hands a moment later and he quickly returned several shafts of his own.

The archer smirked and fired about a third of the arrows he had. Her own arrows intercepted his and knocked them into each other, ruining their flight paths and rendering them effectively useless.

Link's eyes went wide as she landed on another roof. She wasn't just good enough to stop Archer, she flat _outclassed_ him in archery.

"Who _are_ you?" he asked, awed.

The woman's only answer was to fire at him again. Link dodged to one side, barely dodging the arrow and leaping from one roof to another.

She began to speak in a language alien to him, glowing words written in a flowing script spinning around her and stopping in the air as she spoke, and the arrows began to explode with various elemental effects as he dodged them.

Link grinned at the challenge and hurled the Gale Boomerang at her. The archer took to the sky and was surprised to see the boomerang follow her path and even adjust its course to reach her sooner.

Link stopped his sprint and pulled out the massive ball and chain he carried. He would only have one shot at this. He began to spin the weapon over his head and waited until the archer came into his effective attack range.

Sure enough, a moment later she dodged the boomerang and Link released the ball and hurled it straight into her back.

The woman let out a grunt and dropped from the air and onto another roof not too far away from him, the boomerang striking her several times before finally returning to Link.

"It's been a long time since I've had a fight quite this interesting," he called. "You having fun too?"

The cat eared woman rose to her feet and lifted her arms in an odd posture and Link realized that her bow was missing.

 _ **"Hecate,"**_ the woman growled. There was a surge of mana and a _massive_ rifle materialized in her hands and was already leveled in his direction.

 _Hecate_ , Link thought. The name triggered something in his mind, a piece of lore he instinctively understood due to his status as a secondary Servant. There was only one Archer he knew of who had a Noble Phantasm with that name, and the skill with a bow to outclass Rin's Archer enough to render him impotent in a fight.

 _Oh crap,_ Link thought as Sinon, the sniper of another world who had stopped a virtual assassin with a phantom bullet, pulled the action of her .50 caliber, anti-material sniper rifle Noble Phantasm and, at a rather terrifyingly close range, pulled the trigger.

* * *

 **Author's note: So yeah, we've got some stuff going on here. A nice Pyrrha scene, some set up for the showdown that's coming soon and another Servant has finally been revealed! Say hello to my Archer, Sinon! Time to bring out your A game, Link. Cause you're going to need it. :)**

 **Just like Harry, Sinon was one of those characters that I knew was going to be here. Harry was always going to be my Caster, and Sinon was always going to be my Archer. I love her character. And throwing her into a Grail war is going to really shake some things up. She also makes the current tally at 2 Servants from anime, 1 from a book series (although the SAO anime is based on the light novels), 2 from video game series, and one from comics/movies. Hey, that just leaves one Secondary Servant left. -evil smile-**

 **Other than the fight between Sinon and Link, which I'll cover later, I think the only scene I might need to cover is the one between Rin and Pyrrha. Pyrrha's in an… interesting position and I really hope that I'm conveying that well. There are things happening in the background and I hope you guys can spot who the players are.**

 **Death0887: You are correct, Dresden is the bane of technology. That is, under normal circumstances. In this particular case, though, that is not necessarily true. This isn't actually Harry Dresden. It's the memory and soul of Harry Dresden in the shell of a Servant that's been made by the Grail. He doesn't have the same unstable field of magical energy around him that he would normally, simply because magic works differently in the Nasuverse. As a secondary Servant, he gets the best of both worlds just like every other secondary Servant does. This is why the secondary Servants are actually bloody terrifying. Most of them have far less limits on what they can do,** _ **if**_ **they can figure them out. Pyrrha's scene is a great example of this. Her powers are far more open, but not completely free of limitations. She just has to learn them.**

 **Plus, he still understands the benefits of technology even if he couldn't use it himself, which was what he was complaining about last chapter. To quote the wizard's own explanation: "I read." From a different point of view, the comedic effect of the tech death isn't really worth it in this story.**

 **Keep that insight coming, please. I love that you're paying attention to what's going on. :)**

 **Coronadomontes: Thanks! :)**

 **And, wow, this is a long author's note. Anyway, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.**

 **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

 _What is your name?... What is your quest?..._ \- The old man from scene 24, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

"We've completed our rounds of the main buildings," Saber said. Shirou stood next to her, looking at a map of the area so that they could select their inspection targets.

Whatever Link and the second Archer were doing was either relatively quiet, or had moved far enough away to not distract them. Had they ever started fighting yet?

"Is there any place else you feel we should go?" Saber asked.

Shirou blushed slightly at the intensity of the look in Saber's eyes and looked away. "Well, there's this factory up ahead that it might not hurt to check out," Shirou suggested.

There was suddenly a surge of magical energy that passed through the area.

"Shirou!" Saber said.

"Yeah, I know," he answered. "How close do you think it is?"

"Not very," Saber reported. "I'm not sensing any sort of barrier. However, we are definitely being watched. This challenge is directly solely at us. I'll trace the mana. Stay on your guard, Shirou."

The Master and Servant made their way toward the energy that was directed at them in challenge. Shirou tried to speak to Link, but didn't receive any reply. How intense was the fight going?

They eventually made their way to a deserted collection of office buildings, when Shirou suddenly stopped.

"Careful, Saber," he said. "Something isn't right here."

"I know," Saber said. "But where?" Her gaze suddenly shifted and she leapt into the air and struck a spike of metal out of the air that had been heading straight for Shirou in his overhead blindspot. Saber landed behind him, already in her armor, and immediately turned and faced the building next to them.

A familiar feminine figure was crouched on the wall of the office building like a spider, watching them intently. Her long purple hair covered her body and her masked face stared right at Shirou. His better than normal eyesight caught her lips shifting, as if she was licking them in anticipation.

"That has to be Rider!" Shirou said, looking to Saber.

"I'll go after her," Saber said. "You wait here!"

"How are you-" Shirou started to ask.

Saber leapt into the air again, and landed on the building's wall and immediately started running up the building, Rider giving chase. Two shadows defying the law of gravity and surging up the 40 story building.

 _Rider's going toward the roof,_ Shirou thought. _That means Shinji has to be there too._ He ran toward the building's entrance. Wherever Shinji was, that's where he needed to be. All he had to do was get the book away from him. Pyrrha had said that Rider would be able to do the rest. There was still time.

* * *

From the ground, they were nothing more than a pair of shadows. They were virtually invisible to anyone who would happen to glance in their direction. The building below them was a rippling surface of glass that almost resembled the surface of a pool of water.

But a battle on water would be preferable to what Saber was currently doing. She could stand on water unafraid, but she was not blessed to fly through the skies. All she could do was move as fast as she could and keep her focus on her progress and the movements of her opponent.

She was falling toward the sky in a near literal sense, the speed of her ascension mirroring the feeling of freefall, racing against the purple haired woman to reach her goal. To stop moving would be to die. The side of the office building was too smooth and had no gaps to allow her to grip or stand her ground. If Rider landed even a single blow, she would be knocked off of the side of the building and fall to her near certain death.

Rider, however, was not bound by the same limits as Saber. Where Saber had to rely on the sheer force of her momentum, kicking her feet in large leaping sprints, Rider's own feet stuck with the surety of someone running down a street.

Rider launched another attack at Saber and she parried the strike and kept ascending. Rider leapt over Saber and struck again, Saber barely blocking this strike as well.

Rider was endlessly persistent as they continued to move. She attacked from every side she could and Saber had to keep her in her line of sight constantly as she made her way up the building.

Saber's feet touched the side of the building and she twisted and launched herself in a completely different direction, travelling perpendicularly to her original path. Rider might be able to stand on the side of the building without fear, but she couldn't match Saber's own ability to launch herself in bursts of speed.

Her feet touched the side of the building and she launched herself upward once again, maintaining her momentum. The steady stream of attacks stopped as Saber changed directions and continued her climb.

But the instant Saber's feet touched the building to continue her climb, Rider was there and attacking in the instant where Saber's concentration had to be focused on her push.

With a grunt of effort, Saber made a rapid parry and barely managed to stop herself from getting knocked off of the building. The battle in the Bloodfort proved that she was the superior fighter in a direct confrontation. Rider was able to hold her and Link off during the Bloodfort, but even then she hadn't made any serious injuries on either of them.

This was different. Saber couldn't press any of her advantages against Rider while she continued to move up the building, while Rider could make use of every battle trick she knew to knock Saber off of the building.

Rider made use of them too, attacking from both up close and farther away thanks to the chains on her weapon. But she didn't try to do anything overly powerful either. Rider harassed her, but didn't actively try to trip her up and knock her away from the building.

Saber made a leap for Rider and swung for all she was worth. Rider deflected the strike easily and danced out of her reach and Saber continued her trek up the building.

Anger flared in Saber's chest. She was a knight, and preferred direct confrontation in a fight. This playful, teasing, sort of attack was insulting. Even Assassin, who had been playful, had been direct in fighting.

"Are you unwilling to fight, Rider?" she demanded as she continued to move.

Rider let out a soft laugh that still managed to be audible as they ascended. "It seems you don't like high places, Saber," she answered in a cool voice. "Your famous sword isn't very helpful up here."

This was annoyingly true. Saber could only use the strength in her arms and couldn't brace her body the way she'd been trained to. Her parries and the few attacks she'd made as they climbed had lacked the power she'd be able to use while on the ground.

"But don't worry," Rider continued. "You'll have comfort soon enough."

Saber made another leaping attack at Rider, who leaped over Saber's strike and landed on her other side and continued to run up the building, moving back within range as if to tempt Saber into another strike.

Their destination, the roof, was rapidly growing closer. The fact that Rider hadn't been trying to knock her off the building meant that she wished to reach the peak as well. That would apparently be the ideal position for both of them.

Which meant that she couldn't afford to let Rider reach the roof. But it was far too late to stop their battle now. She couldn't stop her run and, even if she could, Rider wouldn't let her pull back. Not that she planned to.

She couldn't let Rider or her Master run free. Not because it was the point of the Grail War, but because she needed to keep her Master, Shirou, safe.

Some small part of her mind was surprised that she'd thought that. She was so driven toward the Grail, but she didn't want to push Shirou either.

They continued to gain altitude and clash. Rider put on an extra burst of speed and beat Saber to the roof and left her line of sight. There was a flash of light and Saber cleared the edge of the building and landed on the roof.

She looked up and took in the form of her opponent.

There was the sound of wings unfurling and then the familiar cry of a of horse. Saber stared at the sight in wonder. Rider was astride a great, pure white pegasus.

Rider laughed quietly and then the pegasus swooped down toward Saber. Saber immediately slashed out with her sword, channeling the Sheath of the Wind King to try and stop the charge of that mount.

The pegasus didn't even looked inconvenienced as it blasted through the barrier and sent her sprawling. It flew higher into the air, letting out another cry as it did.

"A divine mystery," Saber observed as she tried to get back to her feet. "That creature is thousands of years old." It was far more ancient than any other pegasus she'd learned of. The sense of power that radiated off of it declared it a being from the Age of Gods, a time where divine beings walked the world beside mankind.

The pegasus reached the apex of its ascent and then dove down, slamming its form into Saber at a blinding speed.

Saber was knocked off of her feet and sent tumbling across the roof once again. Saber got back to her feet as fast as she could, but the sheer force of the impact made her unsteady for a moment.

"I'm surprised," Rider commented. "You're far more resilient than you look. But is there any meaning in defiance? If you are going to disappear, disappear with grace."

"I expected a fantastic creature, but I didn't think you'd bring out something like that, Rider," Saber said. "Bringing out something from the Age of Gods. Your deeds must have been profound.

"I was an enemy to you humans my entire life," Rider replied. "Therefore, the only creatures I can control are the poor souls you people have driven to extinction."

"Now I see," Saber said. "I knew there was something unsettling about you. You're no epic hero, you're some sort of demon, aren't you?"

"Think whatever you want!" Rider called and the pegasus twisted and swooped through the air. "It doesn't change the fact that when I'm up here no one can lay a finger on me." Rider dove toward Saber once again.

 _Shirou's not around,_ Saber thought. Saber rolled just under the pegasus as its front hooves struck the ground where she'd been barely a second before. _I'll wait until Rider becomes vulnerable. If I can just stay on the defensive and wait around-_

The doorway to the roof slammed opened. Saber turned and saw Shirou standing in the doorway.

"Shirou?" she asked. Her Master's gaze turned to look at the pegasus moving through the air, a look of shock spreading across his face. "What are you doing up here?" Saber snapped.

* * *

The elevator only went up to the 30th floor. Shirou had been forced to exit and then start running up the stairs to the roof.

His breathing was coming in great gasps as he finally reached the door to the roof and threw it open. Saber stood in the center of the roof and he followed her gaze up to stare at Rider astride the pegasus.

"Shirou?" Saber asked, turning to face him. "What are you doing here?"

Another voice started laughing maniacally.

"Shinji!" Shirou shouted. _Where is he?_ he thought. There were only a couple places that Shinji could be hidden on the roof. But if he'd managed to somehow get the shadows to work with him again like at the school, then the number of hiding places increased.

"Did you see that, Emiya? That's the difference between my power and yours." Shinji's voice moved through the air, next to impossible to trace thanks to the wind this high up.

"Come out, Shinji!" Shirou shouted. The voice had sounded close.

"You and that Servant of yours are finished," Shinji said. "But don't worry, you and I go way back. I'll make your death as quick and painless as possible. You just got in the way, but I'll have those idiots at school follow you in no time. If you say you're lonely, I'll let that annoying Sakura follow you as well."

"Shinji," Shirou growled. Without conscious thought, he flipped the switch and began generating mana. For what, he didn't know, but some instinct was starting to take over.

"Go on, Rider," Shinji ordered. "Start with the woman. I want you to tear her limb from limb!"

The pegasus cried out and began to ascend. Shirou let out a frustrated sound and began running toward Saber.

"Saber!" he shouted. "Get down!"

"Shirou," Saber said and turned her attention back to Rider. She had to make a choice. Shirou was now in as much danger as she was. Rider was coming fast.

She held her invisible sword before herself and unleashed the Sheath of the Wind King. Gale force winds roared from the weapon in her hand, forcing Shirou to stop running and even Rider to halt her descent.

It was hard for Shirou to see or to hear, but he managed it.

"Looks like it's time for me to start the main event, Saber," Rider said. She caressed the neck of the steed under her. "My Noble Phantasm is exceptional," she continued. "So it tends to draw a bit of a crowd." Golden light rose and twisted from her hands. "But I don't need to worry about that up here where no one can see us." The light resolved itself into a glowing cord of power that wrapped around the pegasus like reins.

"So this is your Noble Phantasm, is it?" Saber asked, still releasing wind and drawing out power.

"It is, and generally he's far too gentle natured for the likes of battle," Rider answered. "And if I didn't use something like this he would never be inclined to fight!" Rider cracked the reins and the pegasus' eyes blazed red and the beast cried out once again, now in a fury.

Rider and her mount swopped and then shot into the air like a shooting star. Saber closed her eyes as Rider turned and aimed for her position.

"Hear me," Saber said, reverently. The air that was flowing from her began to spin and condense around her sword.

"What is that?" Shirou asked as golden light began to shine from where Saber stood.

Saber opened her eyes. "Get ready," she said.

The speed of Rider's approach reached a point where her movement was nothing more than a shrill sound. Over it, there was a call. _**"Bellerophon!"**_ Rider called, invoking the name of her Noble Phantasm.

Saber adjusted her stance. "You know, Rider," Saber said, more to herself than to the attacking Servant. "I, too, find being up this high to be advantageous. You see, up here I don't have to worry about scorching the earth with my blade!"

The wind swirling around her sword dispersed to reveal a beautiful, shining, golden sword.

"A golden sword," Shirou said, his upraised arms now shielding him from the light rather than the wind. "Then that's…" but that was impossible. There was no way.

Saber locked her eyes on the form shooting towards her. "Behold!" she cried. _**"Excalibur!"**_

The golden light became completely blinding, and a beam of golden light blasted away from Saber and straight toward the charging Rider.

-Interlude-

Sakura awoke to the sound of water striking the ground.

Drop. Drop. Drop drop. Drop. Drop drop.

The pattern was irregular, uncontrolled.

Someone's breath rasped in ragged breaths and the sound of sobs were barely held back.

She opened her eyes and turned her gaze to the window, where she saw Pyrrha standing there in her armor and looking out toward the city's lights. A thin line of golden light, like sunlight, was just fading away into the night.

Moonlight glinted off of the tears as they fell from the Lancer's shining, emerald green eyes. The water made her eyes look like the gem they were colored after, light shifting and shining and the tears welled up and flowed from the Servant's orbs and slid down her face. The caress of the mourning and sorrowful.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha whispered to the air around her. Her voice was hoarse, straining against the urge to break out into a scream. "I'm so sorry." She slumped to the ground, like a puppet cut from its strings. Her armor faded away like embers from a dying fire, revealing her casual clothing.

"Why am I so weak?" Pyrrha asked, her voice breaking. "Why do I always _wait?!_ " She slammed her hands onto the ground. "Why do I wait when I know what's right?! I could've saved her! I could've stopped him!"

Sakura silently rose to her feet and approached the Servant.

"I'm not a heroic spirit!" Pyrrha practically screamed. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears continuing to flow down her face. "I'm a coward! I should've been there! I knew what to do! What to see!" She tore the circlet from her head and tossed it aside with careless strength. "All I had to do was tell him! I should've found a way! I knew the answer!"

Sakura reached Pyrrha and carefully wrapped her arms around the crying Servant. Pyrrha turned and met Sakura's dark eyes with her bright ones.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry." Pyrrha buried her face into Sakura's shoulder and continued to weep.

Sakura squeezed her remaining Servant tight, and murmured into her ear. She ran her hand through Pyrrha's hair and soothed the Lancer until she eventually stopped crying and her breathing fell into the slow rhythm of those who were at rest.

-Interlude out-

Shirou's vision returned and he saw Saber standing on the roof, her gaze turned toward where Rider had been merely moments before. He was… stunned.

That display of power, the fact of who Saber truly was, the fact that he'd just seen his own Servant destroy another. It paralyzed him.

"Saber," Shirou finally whispered.

There was a shout of surprise from behind him.

"They're burning!" Shinji shouted. "My Command Seals are burning!"

"Shinji!" Shirou shouted and he turned to where he could finally hear Shinji's voice. Shinji's voice abruptly cut off. "Shinji, hold on!" Shirou said, but stopped when he heard a thud behind him. He turned again and saw Saber, collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Her armor shone for a moment and the faded away, leaving King Arthur in her modest gown, Excalibur laying less than an inch from her hand. A moment later, the sword vanished into golden sparks.

Her breathing was shallow, and even from his position Shirou could tell she wasn't doing well.

He didn't think, his legs moved on their own. He ran to Saber's fallen form and hauled her into his arms. Shinji wasn't going to be a danger anymore. Rider was gone, as were his Command Seals.

"Saber," he said. "Come on, Saber, don't! You've got to hang in there. Don't do this to me!"

He wasn't going to let her die. Not as long as he was breathing. She needed rest. Home. That's where he needed to take her. He tried to haul Saber into a fireman's carry, but he was so exhausted from his run up the stairs that he could barely move her light, and warm, form.

He shook his head and growled in frustration. _Maybe I am as stupid as Rin thinks,_ he thought and tried calling for Link.

There was no answer. That worried him.

There was no way that Link _hadn't_ seen Saber's Noble Phantasm go off. In fact, it was surprising that Link hadn't shown up to assist Saber in her battle.

 _To Hell with taking chances,_ Shirou thought. He clenched his right hand and the blue Command Seals there began to glow.

"Link," he said. "Come to me." The Seals glowed brightly for a moment, and the right triangle faded into near invisibility.

There was a flash of light and Link was immediately at his side. Rather than ask what Shirou needed or give a sarcastic remark, like Shirou expected, Link simply panted with exhaustion.

"Link?" Shirou asked and looked at his Secondary Servant. His eyes went wide with alarm.

Link's chain shirt and green tunic were covered with blood seeping from several large bullet holes. He was using his sword as a crutch to lean against and he gripped his side with his other hand. One sleeve of his tunic was missing, and a nasty burn ran up his arm. The top half of his right ear was also missing, though the wound wasn't bleeding.

Even as he watched, the wounds started to heal and his clothing and armor began to slowly and steadily repair itself.

Link simply shook his head.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now," he said, breathlessly. "What do you need, Shirou?"

"Are you okay?" Shirou asked.

Link waved an arm, dismissively. "I'll be fine after a bit. We need to get out of here before she finds us. What do you need?"

"Saber's not doing well either," Shirou said. "We need to get home, fast."

Link nodded. "That I can do," he said and raised one hand to his lips. Shirou spotted the necklace charm he raised as his hand moved. Link placed the charm to his lips and blew into it.

A whistle call rang out from the charm and Shirou heard the cry of a horse. Not the unnatural cry of the pegasus, but the cry of a normal horse. Hoofbeats sounded a second later, and a gorgeous brown horse stopped right next to him.

"Epona," Link said, joy in his voice despite the situation. "We need you."

He and Shirou worked Saber onto the horse, and then Link ordered Shirou on. Shirou was too tired to argue and simply listened to Link's instructions. Then Link slapped Epona's flank and the horse took off in the direction of Shirou's home, leaping off the roof and toward the ground like it was a fence, rather than a 40-story drop.

Shirou glanced behind him as Link dematerialized so that he could keep up and recover, and spotted a sudden flash of light from where he thought Shinji might have been hiding.

* * *

 **Author's note: Yes, I did, in fact, leave you guys hanging about the details of the fight between Link and Sinon. Yes, I realize that this qualifies me as an asshole. :)**

 **And now we have our first casualty of the 5th Holy Grail war. The Servant Rider is no more. Wow, it's been this long and we only** _ **now**_ **have a victim.**

 **When this story was first being discussed in serious detail, Warden Myst and I ran into one serious problem. Someone was going to have to die first. We had a handful of ideas on what I wanted to happen, but we couldn't flesh them out until we determined who was going to die and when. We eventually decided that, unfortunately, Rider would go first. Shinji was rather incompetent as a Master, so there was sense in the decision. And between the Fate or the UBW deaths, I preferred to give Rider her moment of badassery.**

 **That leads us into one of the spins for this chapter, which is Pyrrha's breakdown. As I've said before, I've thought a lot about what our second Lancer would regret after her death. This moment is only compounding one of Pyrrha's greatest flaws, and I'm particularly proud of that.**

 **Coronadomontes: Gracias!**

 **Naruto Sakura Uzumaki: Sinon's probably my favorite SAO character. And I have a sneaking suspicion you're going to love the next chapter. ;)**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.**


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

 _This is real power, real strength. Let your fear carve one name into your brains, the name I share with this weapon: Death Gun._ \- Death Gun, Sword Art Online II

When it comes right down to it, bullets are fast. By the time the crack of the gun firing is heard, the bullet has either already hit its intended target, or missed. Human reaction times aren't fast enough to anticipate or even comprehend the speed of a simple bullet.

The PGM Hecate II rifle Sinon was using fired bullets at an astounding 825 meters per second (2,707 feet per second) and had a maximum firing range of over 2 kilometers (1.25 miles). She was standing a mere 150 feet from him.

Link, fortunately, _wasn't_ human. Unfortunately, neither was Sinon. Even with his impressive reflexes, Link nearly died right there.

 _ **"Shield of Hyrule,"**_ Link declared an instant before Sinon pulled the trigger. The metal kite shield in Link's right hand shone with light and rapidly expanded to create a solid barrier of magical energy between him and the already approaching bullet.

The rush of power solidified just as the bullet started to pass through the field. The bullet, fired from a weapon meant to penetrate armored vehicles and heavy cover, seemed to shiver as it shattered the barrier phantasm and shifted just enough to miss Link's forehead.

Pain flashed through Link as the bullet sheared the top half of his pointed right ear and continued on its path. Sinon pulled back the bolt-action of her rifle and Link became a blur of motion as his boots shimmered into the pegasus boots and he ran to the edge of the roof and leapt off of it.

He fired one clawshot and used it to swing through a window in the next building. He shattered through the glass, rolled as he hit the floor and shot forward, not letting up on his increased speed for an instant.

Sinon's second shot destroyed the floor where Link had landed not a second earlier and he thanked Hylia that the building was empty. Granted, Sinon probably wouldn't have been as ready to shoot him if she hadn't known that herself.

He ducked down a hallway and took stock of himself as he made his way to the nearest stairwell.

He couldn't hear anything with his right ear. The bullet's path and the pressure wave from the projectile had completely ruined the hearing on his right side. The Triforce of Courage would help him start regenerating, but he couldn't afford to wait around.

He figured Sinon would take one of two approaches. She would either follow him into the building, or she would find some way to track him while he was inside and demonstrate what her Hecate, a name which she herself had been monikered with from her peers, could do to an office building.

Link hurried into the building's stairwell and immediately started to climb up them. Whichever approach she took, she likely wouldn't expect him to make his way closer to her. If she followed, he'd gain the high ground. If she tried to track him, the last place she'd expect him to go was closer to her so soon after she'd used her Phantasm. The smart move would be to get her into a confined space so she couldn't use her rifle as effectively, so running to the roof was the last thing she'd expect him to do.

He was nothing more than a green blur as he ran up several flights of stairs, but he slowed his steps as he reached the final few steps before the door to the roof. It wouldn't do to announce his presence with the speed of his movement.

His Triforce suddenly flashed with light and Link immediately dodged to one side. There was a loud impact as Sinon's next bullet went straight through the metal security door that lead to the roof and punched a large hole through the steel before the door fell out of its frame. Link leapt off the stairs and plummeted down a dozen floors as Sinon burst through the empty doorway into the stairwell.

 _She knew,_ he thought. _She knew_ exactly _where I was going. How did she know?_

Link lifted one hand and unleashed a jet of fire from the rod in his hand back up the drop and held the Gale Propeller in his other hand and created a powerful gust of wind to slow his fall.

As advantageous as attacking her there would have been, the simple fact that she'd been waiting for him meant that she had prepared for him to get close. If she'd set a trap, her vulnerability would be the perfect bait.

He landed in a roll and immediately ran through the stairwell fire exit and back outside of the building into an alleyway. Sinon flew from the roof on her translucent wings.

"Oh, come on!" Link cursed and slashed at the air with the Master Sword, now back in his left hand. An arc of blue light shot from the weapon and moved toward Sinon, who was forced to evade the Skyward Strike.

Link might not have had life times to defend himself against guns, especially the powerful rifle that Sinon was currently using, but his instincts and experience were adaptable enough to tell him that he was in a lot of trouble.

Sinon wasn't going to run out of ammunition. Just like how she could unleash an unlimited number of arrows during a conflict, she likely had an infinite supply of bullets as well. She would simply stay in the air, out of his effective reach, and shoot at him until she hit him.

That wouldn't take very long, he knew. She was far too skilled a marksman for that. He'd been lucky so far, but she had the overwhelming advantage in the air.

He could try to run, but he couldn't hide. He _had_ to get her out of the air or, at least, within his effective striking range.

He mentally reached into his satchel, into the experiences of his past, and his wrist shimmered and gained a familiar weight.

As Sinon spun back to face him, he leapt impossibly high into the air, assisted by the magic of the roc's feather, and slashed at her with the Master Sword.

Sinon rolled in the air and her rifle vanished as she drew a submachine gun from her back and let loose with a barrage at point blank range. Bullets tore through Link, barely slowed by the chainmail shirt he wore under his iconic green tunic.

Link fell back to the ground and was on his feet in less than a second. _So,_ he thought. _She doesn't have just_ one _gun._ He threw a deku nut to the ground, creating a blinding flash of light as he started to move again.

He drew back his bow as he ran and spun, leveling the arrow at the Archer as he moved. The momentary flash of light and burst of sound had briefly stunned her, but it was already wearing off. It was time to make a bigger boom.

Link unleashed the arrow, the tip a lit explosive charge instead of the typical metal head, but with one extra addition. He fired the arrow, aiming higher than his target to compensate for the extra payload he'd added to the shaft.

Sinon evaded the arrow with ease and the fuse finished, detonating the bomb and the small sack of deku nuts he'd willed onto the shaft as he'd chosen his arrow. The explosion was filled with brilliant light and sound, the collection of deku nuts compounding on top of each other, and Sinon dropped out of the sky.

Link changed directions and brought his sword and shield back out before leaping into the air, his body falling into the familiar sword form the Hero Spirit had taught him: The Fatal Blow.

As he moved through the air in his leap, Sinon tossed something into the air and rolled to her side. Link knew there was no way her senses had recovered from the shock he'd just delivered. She had to be moving out of instinct, likely taking advantage of some skill or technique of hers that had been enhanced by the Grail. She could have also identified him from his Noble Phantasm and was using that understanding to try and calculate his moves. Whatever the reason, she'd done a good job with her guess.

His eyes flicked to the round object she'd tossed, and went wide when he saw the blinking light on the side of the metal sphere. It was too late for him to stop his jump, and he'd taken too much damage for him to want to risk being at the epicenter of the grenade's explosion.

He acted on reflex, letting go of the Master Sword and holding his shield with both hands. He flipped the shield around and slammed it against the grenade, the descent of his leap driving the metal sphere into the ground with the shield covering the device.

The detonation sent him flying away, but the shield held back the devastating damage of the explosive.

Link flipped in midair and landed on his feet down the alleyway. The shield of hyrule and the Master Sword reappeared in his hands in an instant and he readied himself for Sinon's next move.

The cat eared woman was back on her feet as well, Hecate rifle in her hands and levelled in his direction.

Link's boots shimmered and became the pegasus boots once again and he shot forward, shield before him and sword at his side.

Sinon spoke a quick collection of words that he didn't understand and letters swirled around her, stopping as she spoke each word of a spell. He dodged to one side as she pulled the trigger of her rifle.

The bullet didn't hit him, but rather the ground to his left and just behind him. There was another detonation and a wave of fire and force blasted into his back and sent Link tumbling through the air.

That was when dread really came to Link. He was outmatched here. Sinon was able to control the conditions of the fight too much, and she was too good at keeping her cards close to her chest. She'd waited until he was confident he could dodge her rifle's bullets before revealing that she could infuse those shots with magic like with her arrows. She'd been able to track him while in the cover of the building. She could penetrate his barrier phantasm.

He _had_ to run or she would kill him. He could see it in her eyes: the cold intensity that meant she could, and would, end his existence. Her blue eyes were like spikes of ice and steel. Calm, rational, and calculating.

The damage she'd inflicted was catching up to him as well. His hearing was recovering, being the most pressing injury, but the bullets she'd unloaded into him with her submachine gun had done a considerable amount of damage, as had the sharpel that had just been blasted into his back.

That meant he only had one course of action: try to lame her and get the ever-living _hell_ out of dodge. He landed in a roll and immediately used his momentum to get back onto his feet.

With a battle cry, he swung his sword at the Archer as he charged her.

Sinon didn't take to the sky like he'd expected. She didn't even dodge. She adjusted her position, let go of her rifle again and flipped a short metal rod into her hand. She clicked a button on its side and a glowing blue blade projected from the rod.

Sinon swung the sword of light in a slash of her own. The blades; one blessed metal, the other shining light; met and slid down each other. The light of Sinon's own sword managed to hold back the steel of the Master Sword and Link's own forward momentum dragged her sword along the Master Sword's entire length.

Sinon capitalized on this, and moved forward herself, continuing to drag her sword along Link's arm and severely burning the tunic, chainmail, and skin of his left arm.

Link cried out in pain and stumbled dangerously for a moment. He could almost _feel_ Sinon lining up her next shot. He could see it in his mind. Her rotation, the rifle reappearing in her hands and her finger pulling the trigger to launch the bullet that would kill him.

The roc's feather returned to his wrist and he prepared to jump, waiting to try and time the jump correctly to dodge a bullet that moved twice the speed of sound. He could tell his luck had finally run out. He braced himself for the end of another cycle.

Something tugged in his core and he was suddenly gone in a twisting of reality and blue light.

-Interlude-

There was, Anthony Barnett realized, only so much stock in making plans.

 _Isn't this just freakin' typical,_ he thought. _Make a plan and life just_ has _to give you something that ruins it._

He barely dared breathe as the purple haired Rider and her Master stood on the exact same rooftop that he'd scouted out and chosen as his hiding place for the night's festivities. The only reason he hadn't been spotted already was because he was hiding behind one of the only pieces of cover on the entire roof. Well, that and the veiling spell he had running that reflected light away from his body, rendering himself completely invisible.

' _This demonstrates the value of not being seen',_ he quoted in his head.

He quickly ran through his options. He'd sent Sinon away not too long ago to look for and engage any Servants she found. Could she get back in time so that they could engage with Rider and her Master? He could easily take the kid in even a fair fight, and Sinon's Noble Phantasm was top notch. A fight would be easy, but he stayed his hand.

It was better to wait and see what this Master was planning. He moved one hand to his belt, keeping it near both the flare rope and one of his guns.

 _Sinon,_ he thought to his Servant. _Don't come back, but Rider and her Master just showed up. They haven't seen me and they seem distracted._

Archer didn't reply immediately, but could picture the flash of concern and irritation that would cross her face.

 _And why should I stay back?_ she asked him. _It's not like they'll sense me._

 _I want to see what they do,_ he told her. _They've got to be waiting for someone specific. If things get hairy I'll use a Command Seal._

 _Fine,_ she agreed after a moment.

Tony shifted himself into a slightly more comfortable position and watched as Rider moved off the roof and prepared herself for an ambush. Her Master made his way to the exact same piece of cover Tony was hiding behind.

He tensed for a moment, but the purple haired Master didn't sense or notice anything. Apparently his magical abilities weren't that keen, same for his sense of hostility. Tony probably could break his neck without him even realizing what was happening.

He restrained himself. It was smarter to wait, unseen, to see if this Master's prey would come. Then it would simply be a matter of wiping out their Servants or suppressing the Masters at the same time. Quick, clean, and minimal competition.

 _Tony,_ Sinon said. _The second saber is open. We've been cat and mousing for a while now, but it looks like he's ready for a fight._

 _Show me,_ he told her and closed his eyes. A moment later he was watching a figure in a green tunic with a sword and shield on his back moving through an alleyway. _If you can take him, do it,_ he told her. _Sabers are one of the most powerful class of Servants._

 _Roger,_ Sinon answered and the connection dropped. Tony opened his eyes in time to sense, more than see, Rider suddenly launch her attack on someone. Her Master grew excited and giggled to himself.

 _This kid is a few peeps short of an Easter basket,_ Tony thought, keeping himself calm and centered. Whatever fight was going on was happening fast. It wasn't long before Rider returned to the roof and stabbed herself in the neck?

He watched in complete amazement as Rider summoned a pegasus and took the sky on the mount. His sense of magical energies confirmed two things for him in that instant.

First, that Rider's mount was far more powerful than anything he'd ever seen before. Second, that she had been the one responsible for the barrier around the school. The energies _were_ similar. Distinct and different, but similar enough for confirmation. Rider, and her Master, had tried to kill a school full of children.

The primary saber reached the roof a moment later and the blonde haired Servant was forced to go onto the defensive. The battle was starting to look a little interesting, Saber's stance shifting and warning Tony that she had a plan when the door to the roof burst open and the red-haired Master of Saber showed up.

 _Idiot,_ Tony thought. _It would've been smarter to stay hidden._ Then again, this Master seemed much different than the others. It was possible that he had a method to his madness. He was still alive, despite being virtually cut in half by Berserker, after all.

This moved Rider's Master into speech. The kid was smart enough to keep himself hidden and project his voice so that it echoed and became harder to focus on, but still not observant enough to notice potential death standing behind him.

"Did you see that, Emiya? That's the difference between my power and yours." Rider's Master shouted.

"Come out, Shinji!" Saber's Master, Emiya, shouted back.

"You and that Servant of yours are finished," Shinji said. "But don't worry, you and I go way back. I'll make your death as quick and painless as possible. You just got in the way, but I'll have those idiots at school follow you in no time. If you say you're lonely, I'll let that annoying Sakura follow you as well. Go on, Rider. Start with the woman. I want you to tear her limb from limb!"

Tony was in complete shock and his hands moved of their own accord, slowly drawing the flare rope from his belt, readying himself for what was to follow. Whichever Servant went down, he'd handle the other. Either by stopping the Master, or calling on Sinon to assist him with the Servant.

Shinji had just threatened to kill his own sister. That fact kept spinning around in his mind, building itself into a cold blaze. He'd just threatened to kill his own sister.

The two Servants exchanged words before the pegasus cried out and soared high into the air as Emiya ran toward Saber, shouting at her to get down.

Hurricane winds surged through the air and began to swirl around Saber's invisible sword. Golden light began to shine from Saber as Rider dove down toward her at tremendous speed.

Rider's voice cried out through the tumult. _**"Bellerophon!"**_

Tony's eyes went wide as the name clicked. Bellerophon, the name of the Greek hero who saddled and rode the pegasus after he cut it free from the head of Medusa. The woman astride the legendary and lost mount, the one that had a device covering her eyes, had to be Medusa herself, the mother of the creature now in use.

But even that shocking revelation was nothing compared to the Noble Phantasm that was unleashed next. Every shock and surprise that had hit him in the last several days was absolutely eclipsed by a single word shouted by the saber standing on the same roof as he was.

 _ **"Excalibur!"**_ Arthur Pendragon, rightful King of Britain, the one who had drawn the sword from the stone and unified a nation, whose legacy touched every shore of the world, slashed her sword and unleashed a blinding flash of pure golden light directly into the diving Rider.

Tony didn't need to see to know that Rider wouldn't survive the strike. He also knew that if he summoned Sinon to his side to engage, he would join Rider in certain defeat.

His vision returned and he saw Rider's Master recoiling from a burning book he'd dropped.

"They're burning!" Shinji shouted. "My Command Seals are burning!" Which was odd, Tony noted, because Command Seals didn't fade away with the loss of a Servant. There was still a chance for this kid to find an uncontracted Servant, and rejoin the War.

Tony took a deep breath and set the flare rope loose. The silver and red colored cable wrapped itself around Shinji's throat, cutting off his exclamation and his air.

Emiya shouted and then he heard a body hit the ground and running footsteps moving away from his position. Saber might have collapsed. He wasn't sure. He didn't care at the moment. He wasn't going to engage with King Arthur without a definite plan, and there was something else he needed to do first. With a minor effort, he dropped the veil he'd been holding and wound the flare rope around Shinji with his mind.

"You're really not good at this, are you?" he asked, quietly and coldly. He didn't want Emiya to hear what was going on and he had to make sure his point was made perfectly clear.

Shinji tried to reply, but couldn't really make any sound with his airway cut off. Not that he didn't try.

Tony sighed. "What really sucks, kid," he said, his voice solemn. "Is that I had no real intention of killing anyone I didn't have to. I was perfectly content to let you all run around and do this thing. I was just going to knock your Servants out, one by one, and wrap this up clean and simple.

"But then you had to go and make that barrier. You _activated_ that barrier. Did you even think about how many lives you were going to end? What impact that was going to have on the lives and world around you?"

The flare rope had completely encased Shinji by now, his quivering and struggling form completely surrounded by silver and red.

"Those were kids, Shinji. And people who dedicated their lives to helping them live and learn. And you were going to end their lives over a cup. …But even that isn't why I have to do this.

"I have to do this, because you just threatened to kill your own sister. And I only have one thing to say to that:

"I'm sorry that it has to end this way. But I can't trust you to not follow through on that threat."

And with a murmured word and a blinding flash of light, the rope that surrounded Shinji blazed into heat so powerful that it rendered Shinji into a fine black ash in a single instant. The flare rope went loose and fell to the ground before retracting itself back into the smooth wooden handle.

 _To be a mage is to walk with death,_ Tony thought, his expression stoic. _At least it was quick and painless. Which is more than he would've given anyone._

Something fell to the ground behind him and he turned to see Sinon standing there, her rifle on the ground in front of her, staring at where Shinji had been standing not a even a half-minute ago.

Her cat ears were flat, her tail still, hands covering her mouth, and her eyes distant. Tony looked away. Neither of them spoke for the longest time.

Eventually, he found himself compelled to speak.

"He wouldn't have changed," he said. "You don't try to murder an entire school full of teachers and students unless you've made other calls before. No one ever starts with something that huge."

"But he might have," Sinon said. "We might have been-"

Tony shook his head. "You didn't hear him, Sinon. He wouldn't have changed."

There was another stretch of silence. "I won't ask you to apologize," Sinon said, her voice cold and controlled. That probably wasn't easy for her. He kept his gaze turned away, so that he wouldn't see if her expression was as schooled as her voice. "I just have one question: What are you going to tell his sister, when she asks what happened?"

He heard her dematerialize.

"I don't know," he whispered to the empty air.

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from one of the pockets in his vest and pulled one out, lighting it with a snap of his fingers and a small tongue of flame. He looked out on the city, feeling the burn of the smoke move through his body and into his lungs.

 _Damn it all,_ he thought. _I didn't want any more blood on my hands. But once this is done, assuming I survive it, I'll sit down and talk to that girl. Hell, I'll let her vent all she wants. I know I deserve it. But I know one thing… She'll never hear those words. She'll never hear what he was willing to do to hurt Emiya. I'll never tell her how little he thought of her._

Tony didn't move from the roof as the wind picked up, scattering the ashes of the first dead Master of the 5th Holy Grail War.

-Interlude out-

* * *

 **Author's note: So, yeah. Some heavy shit just went down. I want to take this moment to leave a friendly 'screw you' to the fantastic writer: Neoalfa. You made this choice far more difficult than I thought it would be because you** _ **somehow**_ **made Shinji pitiable for me. If you guys haven't checked out Neoalfa's writing yet, you absolutely have to.**

 **So I'm going to be trying something different with my author's notes. I feel like I've been rambling too much during them so I'm going to be cutting back the amount I talk about in these notes. I'll still respond to reviews but I want to try this approach out. If you guys don't like this call, totally let me know.**

 **As always, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **P.S. I'm hoping that at least someone was laughing at the fact that I was quoting Monty Python in front of the last chapter.**


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

 _There's always another secret._ \- Kelsier, Mistborn: The Final Empire

Shirou sat in the dark room, waiting anxiously. He had arrived back home not long ago and had immediately carried Saber to her room. Rin had been leaving her room at the time of his arrival and had told Shirou to wait while she and Harry examined Saber.

The look of shock on her face as Shirou had come onto the property on the back of a horse hadn't been enough to shake his worry, but the thought might be useful later to bring himself a tiny smile.

Emotions spun and swirled in him and he was having difficulty sorting them out. Saber hadn't even stirred as they rode back to his home and both Harry and Rin had shared a significant look with each other as Shirou had left the room.

His worry for Saber made the utter shock of the name she had called out when she had destroyed Rider utterly insignificant, but that didn't mean the shock wasn't there. It was simply waiting for its moment to come to the forefront of his brain.

The light clicked on and the door slid open as Rin and Harry entered the room. Link hadn't rematerialized, though he had assured Shirou telepathically that he'd be okay once he had some rest.

"So," Shirou asked. "How's Saber doing?" Rin and Harry both sat down.

"Judging from her condition, I doubt she'll be waking up anytime soon," Rin said.

So she wasn't dead. Relief flooded through him at that. "Oh. Well, it was a good thing you were here, Tohsaka."

"I didn't have anything to do with this," Rin said. "Saber's condition isn't getting better Shirou. Would you mind explaining what happened?"  
"Well, we took out Rider," Shirou said. "I still can't believe it. Saber used her Noble Phantasm, and then when it was over, she collapsed."

Rin looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're lucky," she finally said. "I'm not going to grill you on the specifics of Saber's power. As it is, you two have a much bigger problem to worry about right now."

"What are you talking about?" Shirou asked.

Harry sighed. "If you and Saber don't figure something out quick, Saber's mana is going to run out and she'll disappear," he said. "Whatever she did to destroy Rider, it took a hell of a lot of energy to do. So, her reserves are nearly gone, and she has no easy way to refill them."

"But Saber's been in fights before and come out alright," Shirou objected. "She said all she needed to do was sleep and then she'd be able to recover."

"That was because she started this war with an inordinate amount of mana," Rin said. "You need to keep it in perspective. It's not that she doesn't have any mana left at all. She should be able to create enough to maintain her physical state."

"So she's gonna be okay!" Shirou confirmed, moving to the table where Rin and Harry sat.

"That depends on your definition of okay," Harry said. He laid his left hand onto the table and Shirou noted the faded burn scars all over the hand. "There's 'okay, I can live my life with some mild inconvenience' and then there's 'okay, I can still fight off a horde of demons or epic heroes with maybe the occasion stumble'. Saber's at the first kind of 'okay' when she reasonably has to be at the second."

"Because you're unable to replenish her mana," Rin said. "The next time she has to fight someone, she'll have to attack them in a rather compromising physical condition. If she uses her Noble Phantasm, she'll disappear for sure."

"Alright, fine," Shirou said. "Then all she has to do is not use it again."

"Can you out-cook Sakura?" Harry suddenly asked.

"What?" Shirou and Rin asked at the same time.

"Just answer the question."

"What does that have to do with anything right now?" Shirou asked, exasperated.

Harry sighed. "Fine, I'll skip to the punch-line," he said. "Could you out-cook Sakura without the use of your right arm? Because that's about as close as I can get to explaining what that would do to Saber's combat ability."

"Really?" Shirou asked.

"Yes," Harry said. "We don't like to use our Phantasms constantly or right away because they're costly to use and can out us for who we really are, but to _not_ use it at all limits the options we'd have available in a fight. A Noble Phantasm used in the right place at the right time can turn the tide of any battle between Servants. Even a hero as powerful as Hercules can be stopped by a lesser Servant if they can use their Phantasm at the exact second he's vulnerable."

"That means," Rin said. "That Saber will have to restore her mana stores… if you want to keep using her as a Servant."

Shirou eyed Rin. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"You do have a second Servant, Emiya," Rin said. "You can still participate in the Grail war with just Link."

Shirou shook his head. He couldn't do that. He couldn't let Saber simply die. And… "I don't think that's going to be enough," he confessed. "I think Link was nearly killed today as well."

"What?" Rin asked. "How?"

"He found the other Archer," Shirou said. "And they fought while Saber and I continued to search for Rider and Shinji. I had to use a Command Seal to call him to me to help get Saber home. He was full of bullet holes and his arm was burned. Whoever that Archer is, they're powerful. None of these secondary Servants seem to be quite right. Everyone has access to tricks and techniques that make them hard to counter without backup."

"Then you're going to have to find a way to restore Saber's mana," Rin said. "There are only two ways for a Master to do that. The first is to have their Master replenish their mana themselves. The second is far less attractive: Forcing the Servant to replenish their mana on their own."

"Are you talking about doing what Rider did?" Shirou shouted in outrage. "You want Saber to build her strength back by ripping the souls out of innocent people? That's ridiculous!" Shirou slammed his hand onto the table in his anger. He glanced over at Rin, and noticed that she looked slightly pale.

"I know," she said, quietly. "But it's an option we have to acknowledge. Can you think of another way that allows her to get the mana she needs?"

"No, of course not," Shirou said, calming down. "If I could do that, I'd have done it already."

"We're coming at this from the wrong angle," Harry said. He stood up. "I'm going to my lab and brainstorming with Bob. We're going to need to figure something out soon, but it doesn't have to be this nanosecond. Maybe something will come to one of us."

* * *

Shirou sat in Saber's room, struggling with the situation before him. Saber lay on her futon, sound asleep, barely appearing to breathe. He stared at the Command Seals on his left hand, one faded into near invisibility.

Two unbreakable orders. One of those could be used to help restore Saber, just at the cost of someone else's life. He clenched his fist. He couldn't even consider it.

The door beside him slid open, and Pyrrha stuck her head in.

"Is it okay if I join you?" she asked.

Shirou jolted slightly in surprise. "Gah! I really wish you'd stop doing that."

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha apologized. "May I come in?"

Shirou sighed. "Sure," he said. "Sitting alone isn't helping me come up with any ideas." Pyrrha stepped in on light, bare feet and settled beside Shirou, crossing her legs under her.

"Saber isn't doing well," she observed. "I guess defeating Rider took everything she had."

"Nearly," Shirou admitted. "Rin and Harry say she'll be able to function, but that's about it."

Pyrrha gave Shirou a look. "You probably shouldn't be telling me that, Shirou. I am technically your enemy."

"You saved my life," Shirou said. "You stopped second Assassin from killing me. I couldn't ever see you as an enemy after that."

Pyrrha shook her head. "You're so much like Ruby," she said, wistfully. "Able to see the good in something no matter how dark things appear." She turned her gaze back to Saber. "She's lucky to have you there, by her side. Even if neither of you can spot the perfectly obvious." She smiled faintly. "But who am I to talk?"

Shirou glanced at the Lancer. "What are you talking about?"

Pyrrha giggled and shook her head again. "Nevermind. That's not really important right now." Lancer fell silent and studied Saber as she slept. "The war's about to seriously start, isn't it?" she asked.

"Maybe," Shirou said. "It's probably going to be more active for a little while, at least."

Pyrrha let out a long breath. "Then I guess it's going to be hard for Sakura and I to stay on the sidelines anymore."

 _That_ got Shirou's attention. "Sakura?" Shirou asked. "What does she have to do with any of this?" he demanded.

Pyrrha grew very quiet, seeming to draw into herself. Some of the light left her eyes and she refused to meet Shirou's gaze.

"I told you that you had the situation reversed," Pyrrha said. "You knew that Rider was stolen from her original Master, Shirou. Who was the one person Shinji had the most access to? Who was the one person he could coerce into giving up control of something he wanted?" Pyrrha closed her eyes. "We managed to convince him that he was only capable of maintaining control of one Servant. We made him choose which one he wanted working with him, and swore that the other wouldn't interfere with whatever he would do.

"He chose Rider, because he arrogantly assumed that the primary Servant was more powerful than a secondary Servant could ever be."

"But," Shirou said, trying to process what he'd been told. "A Master has to be a mage," he said.

"Like you are?" Pyrrha countered. "Like Shinji was? The Grail doesn't care who its Masters are, Shirou. As long as they fulfill a small set of requirements, the Grail will pick just about anyone to be a Master. Normally, there are decades between Grail wars, allowing for mages to prepare and plan for most of their lives for the battle that's to come. This one just came faster than anyone expected."

She finally turned to look at Shirou. "Plans that were put into place for years later had to be started early. Pawns had to be repositioned, and allowances made for a shorter time table."

Shirou tilted his head in thought. The way she said that struck him as odd. "Plans?" he asked carefully. Pyrrha stayed silent.

Shirou gave her an annoyed look. "You keeping doing that," he said. "Saying just enough to try and point something out, but not actually saying anything useful."

Pyrrha closed her eyes. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry." Then she dematerialized.

Shirou turned his gaze back to Saber. What on earth was happening with this war? Pyrrha had implied that there were other things in motion, but hadn't given out any clues as to what those plans might be.

* * *

The hill was bare of any of the marks of man. The sky was filled with clouds and just beginning to fill with the light of dawn. A figure strongly resembling Saber knelt upon the ground trying her hair up into its customary bun.

The knights and lords who had come before her had left, attempting to select their next king through a competition of jousting instead. All of them had failed. She had stayed. Since she was merely an apprentice, she was not allowed to joust.

She didn't wear the elegant armor or the modest gown, but rather a homespun tunic and pants with a belt of leather. Her jade green eyes, however, were set with that same determined light. They were full of the confidence and the will to challenge the world and make it a better place. The light in those eyes could take the reigns of humanity, and propel it to greater heights, despite the flaws that tried to drag it down.

She rose once she finished with her task and purposefully strode forward toward an ancient stone circle with a small set of steps. A man stood opposite of the figure that resembled Saber. His form and features were covered by a light robe and cloak, though he bore a faintly familiar staff in his hands.

Set in the center of the stone ring was a stone with an elegant, gold sword sheathed within it. The weapon had no scabbard, and light reflected off of the metal of the blade as the sky slowly began to lighten with the light of dawn. The world grew still, as if holding its breath. Everything waited to see what would happen next.

The Saber-looking figure climbed the steps and locked her gaze upon the hilt of the sword, her green eyes not faltering for a moment. She reached her hand out for the weapon.

"Whosoever pulleth the sword from the stone," a man said. "Shall be the rightful King of all Britain. Before you attempt this, Arturia, I suggest you give great thought in regards to what you are about to commit to. Once you take that sword in hand, there's no returning. You will no longer be a mere human being."

There was a single moment of pause as the man finished speaking. It wasn't hesitation, but consideration. A proper regard for the consequences of the decision. It barely took a second, as with all of the biggest choices, it did not take long for her to understand what she was going to commit to.

"I know," the figure who resembled Saber said, her gaze not leaving the sword. She spoke not to the man, but to the weapon before her, to the responsibility that she would undertake. "I have come here to free this sword of my own volition."

She gripped the sword's hilt with one hand, her fingers wrapping around the grip as if she had done so for her entire life. It wasn't a perfect hold of the weapon, but it was solid and grounded in understanding and in trust.

Her arm strained and the golden sword began to slowly slide free of the stone. The light in her eyes grew more intense, accepting the challenge the sword gave.

She continued to strain and the weapon finally slid free, the sword's blade shining in the light of dawn. The blade was unmarred by rust or any imperfection, the edges still sharp after years of disuse. It was a regal weapon, a beautiful weapon, a devastating weapon. A sword fit for a king.

She held the sword high and was met with silence. There was no cheering of onlookers, no whispers from a crowd, no subtle sounds of people bowing in respect. It was a quiet affair, a humble affair, fit for a humble king and noble ideals.

There was no pomp and circumstance, no ceremony, but that only added to the majesty of the sight, rather than diminishing it. The greatest decisions are always made in the quiet, whether it's in the dark vaults of the mind, in the silence of a room awaiting an answer, or the deafness that falls even upon the battlefield, the greatest of decisions always come when there is nothing else there to distract.

The hill was suddenly the one from before. The wind blew in a constant stream, making the grass wave like water lapping on a beach. Saber stood ahead an army of knights, the same sword that had been drawn from the stone, planted before her as regally as a lord's scepter. She wore her armor and gown, but her eyes were still the same as the girl who had approached the sword in the stone.

"Our king is the god of battle," a knight's voice called out, filling the silence that had surrounded them. "He may always be found leading the charge and he has never tasted defeat! No one can stand in King Arthur's way!"

"His countenance has remained unchanged ever since he drew the sword of choosing!" another knight shouted.

"Our King does not age!" a third knight answered.

"Truly, he is the embodiment of the dragon!"

Saber simply stood there and looked toward the horizon. It was impossible to know if she heard the praise of her retainers, for she simply stood there, as glorious as any king could be. A symbol of their might and wisdom, a sign of glory and right to come.

* * *

 **Author's note: Oh, poor Pyrrha. You're just in an absolutely impossible position, aren't you?**

 **As always, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

 _For it is in passing that we achieve true immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee._ \- Pyrrha Nikos, RWBY

Sunlight slid across Shirou's closed eyes, and he opened them to find himself still in Saber's room. He'd been leaning back against the door to her room, still in the sitting position from his conversation with Pyrrha.

"Oh, man," he said. "Did I fall asleep?"

It was only then that he noticed he'd been covered by a blanket at some point in the night. There was the barest hint of a familiar perfume as he removed the blanket and set it beside him.

Saber still lay on her futon, nearly motionless as she slept. He'd seen a different side to her in the dream. It had to have been Saber, the resemblance was too close to be anything other than completely accurate.

But could a dream really help him understand the woman he'd become bound to? Then again, he'd dreamt of Link even before he'd been summoned. And Link himself had drawn a sword from a stone.

 _There's a connection there_ , he thought. _Both of my Servants drew swords from stone. But why is that important?_

It certainly wasn't going to help solve his current predicament: Saber's currently weakened state.

As if sensing his thoughts, Saber moved slightly in her sleep. Her breathing shifted, becoming slightly more ragged. Perhaps she was dreaming, and not having pleasant recollections.

Shirou moved over to her and picked up a cloth set beside Saber and mopping up the sweat that had gathered on her forehead. Her fever was still bad, largely unchanged from the previous night.

"Please, Saber," he murmured. "Don't disappear on me." The comment brought his mind back to the crisis at hand. He could worry about nebulous maybe connections between his Servants later.

He hadn't been able to figure out any way for Saber to recover her strength enough to fight. Short of resorting to a Command Seal to force Saber to attack someone, he hadn't thought of anything that could work.

 _Harry will think of something_ , Shirou thought. He was a Caster class Servant, if anyone could find a creative solution to this problem, he could. That gave Shirou pause.

Why had he even thought that? He'd always been one to tackle a problem himself, not ask for help. It wasn't that he didn't have faith in the effort of others, but relying on someone else to solve a problem he'd set out to do was out of character for him.

Shirou shook his head. There was something about the wizard, though, that made him trust him. The kinship he'd instinctively felt when they'd spoken with each other. The way Harry had always defended him from Rin's early criticism.

Maybe he should've felt more concerned that an enemy Servant was in his head so thoroughly, but the suspicion never came. He trusted the wizard, and he had faith in his experience and ability.

Shirou quietly exited Saber's room through his own. Ever since Caster had pulled him into Ryuudou temple, Saber had insisted that she stay in close proximity to him. So she'd taken up residence in the side room that was connected to Shirou's room. It was the best compromise they could reach, given the circumstances. It was certainly better than her sleeping in the same bed as him, as she had initially wanted. Link had only snickered at that.

Shirou wandered around his house in thought and spotted Archer standing outside, testing the string of his bow. As if he could sense Shirou's eyes on him, he turned his attention to him.

"What do you want?" Archer asked, his tone barely civil. He wasn't actively considering violence against Shirou, the bounded field would've gone off if he had been, but he clearly wasn't any more inclined toward Shirou than before.

"I just thought I'd stop by and see what you were up to," Shirou answered, his own voice edged with irritation. "You usually just skulk about in your astralized state, so I was surprised to see you."

Archer smirked. "Unlike you, some of us actually care about the role we play in this war. Caster might have improved your defenses, but they can only go so far. Rin herself was attacked just outside of this place if you'll recall. I make regular checks of the perimeter."

Shirou's eyes hardened. Archer's statement was completely accurate, which annoyed him. He didn't care for his role in the Grail war, but he did the best he could. There were other players, however, and they wouldn't simply sit by while he tried to help Saber.

 _He's right,_ Shirou admitted to himself. _I can't afford to be indecisive anymore._

"I heard what happened to Saber," Archer continued. "A Servant summoned by a Master who can't replenish their mana has no chance of surviving. She knew all along this would happen, Shirou."

"Think what you want," Shirou shot back. "I'm not going to let Saber disappear." He walked away.

"Obviously I have to spell this out for you," Archer replied, coolly. Shirou stopped. "Saber must've known that if she used her Noble Phantasm she would disappear," he continued. "Knowing the outcome, she had probably intended never to use it. Therefore there can only be one reason she called up her Noble Phantasm." Archer's voice changed. He had likely turned away from Shirou. "Saber decided to protect you rather than protect herself. You should never forget that."

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing," Harry said, stepping out of the guest house as Archer spoke. "Isn't that the point of a protector? To take the hit so no one else has to?"

Archer scoffed. "To throw yourself in the way of every possible harm that could befall someone is the epitome of idiocy," he said, deadpan. "If you try to save everyone, then you end up saving no one."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I never said a protector shielded from _everything_. A guardian doesn't coddle and shelter like that, but they stand there for the big moments. They take the blows for those who can't take them themselves."

Archer let out a sound almost like a laugh. "Alright, if you want to have this argument now, I'm willing oblige."

"Good," Harry said. "Cause you seemed awfully cowardly about the debate last time I brought it up. If I recall, that was about the time you tried to kill Shirou."

That comment got an angry look from Archer and his grip on his bow tightened. It took Shirou a split second to see why Archer's anger had been roused.

Despite the fact that Archer had tried to kill Shirou, that he'd agreed with Caster's twisted methodology and let her go, he truly believed he was a hero. Maybe he had been one, and maybe he still was.

Harry's jibe had struck him in his pride as a heroic spirit, claiming that he'd been a coward and that was apparently something Archer couldn't allow.

"I don't have any reason to explain myself to you, Caster," Archer growled.

Harry opened his mouth to reply. "Harry," Shirou said. "That's enough." He blinked in surprise.

Harry turned his attention to Shirou, and nodded once, before looking back to Archer. "Do you see it yet, Archer? He'll defend even you, the guy who tried to kill him. He doesn't like seeing anyone get hurt. Tempered with the right experience, he'll be a better man than either of us. I'd have given him a Sword if I'd met him when I was alive."

Archer shook his head. "I don't need his help or protection," he said. "His ideals will bring him nothing but pain and death."

Harry fixed his gaze on Archer, who quickly averted his eyes to avoid a soul gaze. "In my experience," Harry said, his voice heavy with emotion. "Dying to save someone, is one of the greatest expressions of faith and love I've ever seen." Silver light began to shine from the runes and sigils in Harry's staff. "It's never something you do needlessly, but sometimes that's what it takes. Shiro knew that. Lash knew it. ...Susan knew it. I know it. Do you, Archer?"

Archer didn't answer. He simply looked at Harry for a long moment, and then faded away into his astralized state.

The silver light in Harry's staff faded away as Shirou approached him. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Shiro gave his life to save me," Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Lash took a psychic bullet to save me. Michael was willing to die in my place too. Susan…" He didn't look at Shirou, but kept staring at where Archer had been. "He's right about one thing. It hurts, but I'd do it all again." He finally looked to Shirou. "Don't stop, Shirou. Don't ever stop." Then he smirked. "But, don't go throwing yourself in front of every bullet that might fly by you either. You'll know the right moment to take the hits."

* * *

After he and Harry parted ways, Shirou found himself wandering again. He still hadn't figured out what to do about Saber, and Harry hadn't provided any insight into the problem. Either he hadn't found anything yet, or his confrontation with Archer had distracted him too much to provide it.

He was somewhat surprised to find himself in the children's park in town where he'd played with Illya, had it only been three days ago? It felt like a month had passed.

But this was as good a place as any to think, so he sat down on the bench and went down the chain of logic once again.

 _In order to defeat the other Masters and bring the Holy Grail war to an end,_ Shirou thought. _I have to have Saber with me. Working with only Link isn't an option. The other Secondary Servants are too powerful or versatile to come at with just one Servant. Link's near death by second Archer proves that._

 _Even if this war wasn't going on, I wouldn't want to lose Saber,_ he admitted. Saber had become a dear friend in his eyes, no matter what her views on the war were. He couldn't just sit there and let her die when he could do something about it. But that option… He looked at the Command Seals on his left hand.

 _If I use this, I can force Saber to carry out my orders whether she wants to or not. I could force her to survive by attacking people and draining their mana, just like Rider did._ Actually, if Caster was to be believed, it was even theoretically possible to do so without killing anyone.

Shirou grabbed his head in frustration and disgust. _Yeah, right. I can't make her do something like that. Even Caster admitted that she'd killed before she gained enough of an understanding to drain people enough to sustain her and keep them alive._

"I didn't expect you to be here," a girl's voice said.

Shirou looked up and saw Illya standing in front of him.

"Illya," he said, surprised.

"Good to see you again, Shirou," she said and walked toward him.

Shirou froze in something like shock. He was still reeling from the fact that she was even there. Not only that, but she was Servant-less from what he could tell. Meeting her once when he'd left her Servants behind was one thing, but twice was just astounding.

"Hey, is something wrong? You look really sad," she said as she reached him. She leaned forward and rested her hands on his knees, peering into his eyes.

"Did you come all the way here by yourself again?" he asked, not wanting to talk about his current predicament to another Master. Then he raised a hand and closed his eyes. "Wait, hold on. I'm sorry Illya, but I don't have time to play with you today."

The pressure on his knees increased as Illya leaned even closer and tightened her grip. "Saber's about to fade away, isn't she?" she asked. Her tone had changed, losing the child-like innocence and playfulness and gaining the hard edges of someone far more serious and dangerous. The child-like tone was still there, but subdued, which only enhanced the dangerous quality of her voice.

Shirou's eyes snapped back open and he met her gaze in alarm. "Illya?" he asked. Wind blew past them and Shirou felt panic begin to rise up in his chest. Illya's eyes began to glow and Shirou's alarm increased.

He couldn't move his body. His brain was telling his limbs to move, to get away from the girl, but his body refused to listen. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Wow," Illya replied. "You're already paralyzed?" Her tone was more mature, the derision and criticism inherent in her voice belonged to someone who was older than Illya appeared. "I can't believe it, Shirou. You don't have any defenses at all, do you? I didn't think I'd be able to catch you this easily. You're so cute." Then she giggled.

"Illya," Shirou said and tried again to make his body move.

"Don't try moving," Illya told him. "It's just a waste of time, okay? Pretty soon, you won't be able to talk either."

So Shirou gave up on talking and tried to call on his own magic. His skill at reinforcement was shoddy, but maybe that could become an advantage. If he could just get his magic working, he might be able to destroy the bench under him. Hopefully breaking eye contact with Illya would end whatever she was doing to him. Something was wrong with this situation. Something should have happened by now. But what was it?

"Trace on," he said, or rather, he tried to say. Before he'd even gotten to the 't' sound in his incantation, his voice box seemed to stop functioning correctly. His mind began to feel hazy and his concentration began to slip away. There was a mental clicking sound in his head as he tried to pull his switch, but that too fell away from his grasp.

"But I wouldn't worry about that," Illya continued. Her voice began to echo and Shirou's vision began to blur. "I didn't come here to talk today anyway."

Shirou desperately fought to get some semblance of control in his body. He managed to gain a mental inch back from the mile Illya was currently conquering in his mind.

"You're gonna kill me?" he asked, his voice sounding strained. He lost control of his voice again and his muscles began to relax.

"Saber's gonna be gone pretty soon, so let's just hurry up and get this over," Illya said.

Shirou only then began to realize just how much danger he was in. This was the third time he'd been caught by a magically based trap or situation, and this was the only time that Link _hadn't_ materialized to help him.

 _Of course not, idiot_ , Shirou thought to himself, or rather Shirou's brain told him in a really good impression of Rin's voice. _Link's probably still recovering from his battle with second Archer. Of course he's not going to be on hand to help._

"Sweet dreams, Shirou," Illya said as he started to fade away. A man stepped into his view as darkness came. It was the plain looking driver who had collected Illya the other day. Just before Shirou fell unconscious, a cloud passed overhead and covered the driver in shadow.

For that brief moment, flames encompassed a bare, human skull.

* * *

Saber woke up with the distinct impression that something was wrong. She couldn't place exactly what was out of place, but her instincts were telling her to be wary. For the briefest of moments, she thought she smelled something rotten, like bad eggs.

She tiredly opened her eyes and moved her gaze left and right, but the room was completely empty. Sunset made the lighting dimmer and more orange, but nothing seemed immediately out of place.

She slowly sat up and shifted the covers off of herself. Then something came to her. Part of the problem.

"Shirou," she said. She got to her feet, but exhaustion and lack of energy made her so unsteady that she had to use the wall to help keep her balance. She made her way through Shirou's room, which was empty, and then made her way to the living room, which was also empty.

"Shirou," Saber said, using the name as something to focus on, to help keep her mind set on the problem. "Where are you?"

She went to the dojo, thinking that maybe he and Link had decided to train together, but it was deserted. Once she made it back to the main house, her strength failed her for a moment and she dropped to her knees.

"Woah there, Saber," Harry said, coming to her side. "You're supposed to be asleep."

"Shirou," Saber said. Harry gave Saber a look and then half-closed his eyes.

"Hell's bells," he complained and picked Saber up by main strength, hardly seeming to strain with the effort of lifting her. "That kid just can't stay out of trouble can he?"

He took Saber back to her room so she could get dressed and then carried her to Rin and Archer. Then he promptly left and entered the guest house.

"Shirou's missing?" Rin asked.

"Yes," Saber answered. She was leaning against one of the sliding doors to the outside of the house, while Rin sat on the porch. Archer stood in the yard, stoic as always. "But I sense somehow that he is still unharmed, and far away, probably in the hands of an enemy."

"The boy is an idiot," Archer said. "Odds are he was taken in the open when he was lost in thought. He probably didn't even think to bring second Saber with him as a precaution."

"That's out of line," Saber snapped.

"An ally that's too incompetent to take even basic precautions is nothing but deadweight," Archer replied, ignoring Saber's objection.

Saber tried to move, but her weakened state caused her to simply collapse to her knees beside Rin. The other Master caught her evenly and helped her down.

"Careful Saber," she said. "You're so low on mana right now that you can't even begin to armor yourself."

"I can still fight," Saber answered. "No matter how I feel, I can't abandon Shirou." She and Rin met each others eyes and something seemed to pass between them. It wasn't a soul gaze, but there was an understanding in that moment. Maybe that was the core of what a soul gaze was. That simple moment of connection, amplified by magic.

"Archer," Rin said, that was it. Her tone was layered with multiple meanings, but the end result was crystal clear.

Archer simply growled in irritation.

"Oh, cheer up," Link said as he materialized, full of energy. "Odds are you'll get to kill something by the end of the night. Ease up on the lethal intent until it can actually be useful."

"Link?" Saber asked.

"You're fully healed?" Rin asked a second later.

Link flashed them a wolfish smile and held up his left hand. The trio of triangles that formed a pyramid on the back of his hand glowed with golden light.

"The triforce of courage," he said. "Is the mark of a true warrior. Injuries won't keep me down for too long. I regenerate much like Saber can, but at a much faster rate once the fighting stops. I'm fully ready to go and get some payback."

"Good," Harry answered, stepping back out of the guest house. "Because we're about to find out what really happened." He turned his gaze to Saber. "I need to borrow you for a second Saber."

"What for?" Rin asked. "You can't just track him like you did for Mitsuzuri?"

"I need something with a connection to Shirou," Harry answered. "Something thaumaturgically connected to him. He keeps the house rather clean, so there's no hair or fingernails for me to use. Blood works too, but he's been bleeding mostly into bandages, and those have all been disposed of. So I have to get a little more creative."

"What do you need me to do, Harry?" Saber asked. Harry guided them into his workshop and explained.

"A tracking spell is fairly basic," he said. "It involves taking something associated with what you're trying to find and simply pouring enough energy into the spell so that you can sense what direction your goal is.

"Without hair, fingernails, or blood from a person, you normally have to use the spell to find something that might be on that person. The tag just torn out of their underwear, or the deodorant they put on themselves that morning. But I don't have any of that on hand."

He pointed a finger at Saber as he approached Little Fuyuki. "But Shirou summoned _you_ , Saber. There has to be a connection between you two on some level. It's how you can sense when he's in danger. Not only that, but since he didn't have a catalyst when you were summoned, there has to be some part of himself that is reflected inside of you. It should be enough for me to pin his location."

"Should?" Rin asked.

Dresden shrugged. "Do you have a better idea? If this works we can get his exact location, a look at who took him, and a lovely view of their shocked face when I open a Way and we drop on top of them. If not, all we've lost is a little time. Whoever took Shirou probably didn't want to kill him, otherwise they'd have just axed him and done a little dance over how lucky and clever they were."

"What do I do?" Saber asked.

Harry held out one hand. "Give me your right hand," he said.

She offered it without hesitation. The wizard took it and began to intone in quasi-latin.

Saber felt the mana surge from the wizard and reach out to her. The energy touched her, flowed through her and-

She was suddenly standing outside of Shirou's house. She looked around in confusion, trying to figure out what had just happened and where everyone else had gone. She glanced up and saw Harry and herself standing over the neighborhood like giants.

Something tugged at her core and she saw a stream of blue and gold light flowing from her chest and down the street. Then she seemed to flow down the street, following the stream of light to a park, and then away and outside of the city.

Trees blurred past her and she saw a giant castle. She barely had time to study its familiar features before she was pulled through an upper story window and into a bedroom.

Saber ignored the details of the room and focused her attention on a form tied securely to a wooden chair. Shirou.

The spell, however, seemed to keep pulling her toward him. Her awareness moved right up to Shirou and seemed about to pass _into_ him when everything vanished.

She opened her eyes as she heard Harry say, "Got him. It's Illyasviel von Einzbern." He let out a long sigh. "Ghost Rider and Berserker."

* * *

 **Author's note: Whelp, I guess it can't be put off any longer. It's time to go and confront Hercules and Johnny Blaze. The Grail war is about to go into a higher gear. :) One Servant is down and more are starting to approach the chopping block.**

 **Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros: The particulars of your question we've already discussed, but to anyone who's trying to think ahead for what I have planned, boy are you guys going to be surprised over what I have planned for our hopeful hero of justice. :)**

 **As always, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

 _It's a trap!_ \- Admiral Akbar, Return of the Jedi

The beautiful golden sword floated in a field of black. The image was clear enough where Shirou could start to see details in the blade's design.

 _A golden sword,_ he thought, dreamily. _That sword was meant for nobody but her. It's not like I want it or anything, it's just that it's so beautiful. If it's possible, I'd really like to hold that thing someday. Even if it's just in my dreams, I'd still be okay with that._

But if he wanted to ever hold that sword, reinforcement magic wasn't going to be nearly enough. He had to improve, maybe even switch back to…

Shirou grimaced and tried to adjust his position. He felt stiff, and he wasn't on his futon like he expected to be. He was sitting, rather than lying down, and his mind was fuzzier than it should have been.

He opened his eyes, hoping something he saw would help clarify what was going on. Even as he was opening his eyes, he could tell that the lighting was all wrong. The color and direction spoke of sunset, not sunrise. And Saber-

Shirou's eyes snapped open and he looked around wildly. The room was completely unfamiliar to him.

The walls were pink and there were several stuffed animals in chairs around the room. To his right was a grand, western style, four poster bed with a pink bed spread. A fireplace was in the wall in front of him.

The bedroom was cute, as if decorated by, or for, a small child. It would've retained the innocent and adorable atmosphere it was supposed to evoke if it weren't for the lighting, and the cold.

The dim light and the colder air made the bedroom a decidedly creepy place, and Shirou's instincts told him that he wasn't somewhere friendly.

The last thing he remembered was Illya paralyzing him, which meant she must have put him here. He tried to move and finally realized that he'd been tied securely to a wooden chair, his arms behind the back and his feet to the legs.

He struggled uselessly for a few moments before giving up and looking around again. He glanced toward the window and confirmed that the sun was indeed setting.

"If I don't get home soon," Shirou told himself. "Saber's going to disappear." The thought, and the spoken words, galvanized him and he tried to struggle against his bonds again.

The door opened and someone stepped inside.

"So," Illya said. "You finally decided to wake up." The Einzbern had changed out of her more winter styled coat and hat and into a purple shirt and short tie with a light and long skirt. Just like her name, the clothing spoke of an aristocratic family and upbringing.

She closed the door and approached Shirou. "How're you feeling?" she asked, setting her hands behind her back. "You should be able to talk again by now." She leaned in close to Shirou's face.

"Oh, yeah. I'm feeling great. I've recovered enough presence of mind to realize you've gone and made me your prisoner," Shirou said, not bothering to hide his hostility.

"What's wrong? Are you mad now?" Illya pulled away. "I did you a favor. Captured enemies are supposed to be thrown in the dungeon you know. But I decided to make an exception for you Shirou and keep you in my room instead. My castle is deep within the forest. No one is going to come save you, and no one's going to interfere."

Bizarrely, the first thing that crossed Shirou's mind was surprise that her house had an actual dungeon. He tried to school his expression to hide the next thought that crossed his mind. Rin certainly wasn't going to simply sit around and wait for him to come home. The moment she realized he was gone, she'd get annoyed enough to try and find him. With luck, she or Harry would figure out where he was and maybe cause enough of a distraction for him to slip free and get back to Saber.

"Why did you even bother bringing me here?" Shirou asked, trying to stall for time. "If you're planning to kill me, you could've easily done that back in the park."

"What do you mean?" Illya asked, looking genuinely confused. She straddled his lap and looked at him. Shirou's heart rate accelerated as her weight settled onto him. She felt very alive in that position. "I don't want to kill you, Shirou. I never even thought about it. Sure, I'm gonna kill the other Masters, but not you, Shirou. You're special."

Illya's expression grew predatory at that. "So, what do you say you join me and become my servant? That way I won't ever have to kill you."

Shirou leaned back as much as he could. The expression and tone of voice were far too disturbing to be coming out of a child. He had once thought that there was something wrong with Rin Tohsaka when it came to the Grail war. But that had been mostly a joke. Mostly.

Staring at Illya and hearing her speak like that started to make Shirou think that there was definitely something wrong with Illya, and not in a good way.

"You can't be serious," Shirou answered.

"That's not an answer," Illya chimed. "So, what do you say? Are you going to be my servant or what, Shirou?"

"Oh, come on," Shirou replied. "You know that's crazy."

"No it's not. Think about it. Once Saber's gone, there's no way you can win a fight. Everyone else will have two Servants and you'll only have one. And if you can't win, then why should you still be a Master?"

"You're wrong," Shirou said. "Saber's not going to go anywhere, and Link's a lot tougher than you give him credit for."

Illya leaned back thoughtfully. "She may not disappear, but in the shape she's in, she'll be easy to kill. And your other Servant can't stand up to my Berserker and Rider. You really are better off just staying here." She leaned forward and rested her head and hands on his chest. "And if you stay here, I'll protect you forever."

"You can keep asking me this all you want," Shirou said, his voice firm, but not unkind. "But there's no way that I'm going-"

Illya placed a finger over Shirou's lips, silencing him. "Wow," she said. "You just don't get it, do you? Whether you want to admit it or not, you're a caged bird and I hold the key. And the person who decides if you live or die today is: me. So maybe you should think twice about saying things that are going to make me mad."

 _If it came to that,_ Shirou thought. _I could always Command Seal Link to me. But she would know that as well as I do and probably has a Servant nearby in case I do. Or maybe she's good enough to simply kill me in an instant if she really wants to._

A Command Seal was a last resort.

"Besides," Illya continued. "I've been waiting ten years for this and it wouldn't be much fun to just kill you now. Would it?"

Shirou's eyes went wide. She'd been waiting… ten years? She couldn't have been any older than twelve. So unless she'd been preparing for this since she was two, she was much older than she appeared to be. Which made this entire situation far more confusing and creepy than it already was.

"All right. I'll ask you this one more time. What do you say? Come on, Shirou. Be my servant."

"Illya, I just can't do it. I'm sorry," Shirou said. "I still have Saber and Link as my Servants, and as long as that's true I'm going to keep being a Master."

Illya's face twisted into a hateful grimace and Shirou could see the cold stone walling up behind her eyes. "I see," she said, stepping off of him and backing away a step. "So that's how you are." Her words were heavy, full of anger and resentment, but she didn't shout or scream like a child. That only made her actions more terrifying, implying a cold and more rational fury.

"You're just going to betray me too," she continued and continued to back away. "I've been turning a blind eye to you lately. But that's over now. Wait here."

"Hold on, Illya," Shirou said. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to kill your sabers," she said, simply. "You'll be sorry for turning me down once I do that, won't you Shirou?"

Shirou felt cold rush through his body. "Illya, don't!" he shouted. "They don't have anything to do with this! Neither does Tohsaka or Harry. The reasons I can't team up with you are personal, nothing else."

"Is that so?" Illya asked, her voice full of spite. "Doesn't matter. I'm still going to kill them. And once they're all gone, I'll come back for you. You see, if you don't want to be mine, then I really don't have any use for you."

"If you want to hate me, fine. But there's no reason for you to kill any of the others."

"Shirou, I can't let the other Masters live. This is the Grail war, remember?"

"Damn it, Illya!" Shirou snapped. "Don't talk about killing people like its nothing!"

"But it's not that big of a deal," Illya replied. "In case you didn't know this, one Master has already been killed."

"What?" Shirou demanded.

"Yep," she answered, apparently taking glee in Shirou's response. "It was yesterday. Someone else went and cleaned up the mess you made leaving that Master alive."

Shirou's eyes went wide. _Shinji,_ he thought. He remember the flash of light he'd seen as he and Saber had left on the back of Link's mount. Had that been Shinji's death? Could he have saved him and then gone back for Saber?

"I'll be back soon," Illya said with a giggle. "Try to escape if you want, but it'll be a waste of time!"

She opened the door and left, ignoring Shirou's shouts for her to stop.

Shirou continued to struggle against his bonds, but his reactions still weren't as forceful as he thought they could've been.

"Damnit," Shirou cursed, realizing the problem. Whatever she'd used on him to paralyze him must have still been in his system. It was wearing off, but he couldn't be sure of how long it would take for his body to flush out the foreign energy. Time was running out.

"It won't be pretty," he said. "But I'll use mana to flush it out."

Shirou closed his eyes and focused, reaching inside and flipping the switch. Some errant part of his mind noted that picturing a light switch, while a handy metaphor, seemed… inefficient as a mental image.

"Trace on," he said. Mana followed through him and he traced his own body. With the pulse of power came an understanding of his body's physical makeup. He spotted the components he wanted immediately.

The mana he needed was flowing through him extremely quickly. Far faster than he'd expected it to. His mana flowed through him and targeted the areas he'd located. The opposing energies met and warred.

His body quivered with the internal conflict raging inside of him. After a moment of nearly silent struggle, something seemed to lurch inside of him and Shirou heaved forward and coughed out something red that tasted like copper. Blood. Apparently his control of his mana wasn't fine enough yet to avoid causing damage to his body.

But the effects of Illya's magecraft were now completely out of his system.

Shirou breathed heavily, the pain of the purging wearing him out, but he was almost free. Now all he had to do was slip his bonds.

* * *

Rin was tugging on her new gloves when there was an unexpected interruption.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked, no demanded. Pyrrha stood at Sakura's side, her armor shining in the setting sunlight.

Rin glanced at the Lancer, who shrugged almost imperceptibly.

Harry glanced at Rin, who imitated Pyrrha's gesture. Saber's eyes flicked around, taking in details, but she didn't speak. Archer simply dematerialized, apparently not bothering to care about the situation.

Rin sighed. It appeared she would have to be the adult here.

"Emiya's in a… situation we need to pull him out of," she answered carefully.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Shirou's in trouble?" she asked.

Rin raised an eyebrow at the tone in Sakura's voice as she spoke. "We're not sure that he's actually in trouble, but we know he's stuck somewhere."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably and she refused to meet Rin's eyes. Then she took a quick breath and straightened her posture.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go get Shirou."

"That's not a good idea," Rin and Saber said at the exact same time. Something flashed in Sakura's eyes and she watched Rin and Saber.

"What kind of trouble is Shirou in?" Pyrrha asked. Rin saw the Lancer's eyes move move from Rin's gloves to Harry in his gear to Saber. Her gaze then fell back to Rin and she lifted an eyebrow. The message was crystal clear. 'I know exactly what kind of trouble Shirou is in. You're preparing for a fight.'

Rin sighed. "He's being held captive. We're going to go break him out and get away."

"He's in danger?" Sakura asked.

"Possibly," Rin answered.

"Then I want to come with you."

"That's not a good idea, Sakura." Rin fought to keep her frustration in check and out of her voice. She was glad the normally reserved girl was taking a confident, and even a stubborn, stand. But now was probably the worst time for it.

"Sakura," Harry said. "Shirou was taken from close by here. There's a chance that whoever took him has someone watching this place. Actually, considering the timing, I'd say it's almost certain. They'll be expecting a rescue attempt. You come here every day, you probably know the neighborhood as well as Shirou would. If you really want to help him, then you and Pyrrha could make a sweep of the area so that when Shirou does get back, he won't get taken away again. Plus any goons that might be keeping an eye out for us will get distracted and watch you instead."

The argument seemed flimsy to Rin. Harry clearly wasn't much of a liar, but Sakura didn't seem to notice. She looked thoughtful for a moment and glanced at Pyrrha, who simply nodded.

"Okay," Sakura said. "We'll go and look."

"That was nice of you," Rin commented after Sakura and Pyrrha had left.

Dresden shrugged. "It'll keep her safe. Shirou will appreciate that, and I'm sure Pyrrha didn't want Sakura going after him. She can't defend herself and I'm worried she'll do something drastic if she spots Shirou in a bad situation." Harry slashed at the air with his staff and opened a doorway of light. "Now we just have to get him back and not die in the process." Then he walked through the door.

They stepped out of the Way and found themselves just outside of the forest where the Einzbern castle was hidden.

Rin raised an eyebrow and glanced at Harry.

"I thought you said we'd get a good look of surprise as we dropped on Illyasviel's face?" she asked the wizard.

Archer scoffed in amusement. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"There must be some kind of ward preventing instant access to the castle," he answered. "They can't stop me from coming in, but they can create a type of pass. Forcing someone like me to take a specific path to the castle and into whatever defenses they might have set up. Evil Bob did something similar in the Nevernever when the Lectors and I stormed Corspetaker's base when I was mostly dead. I didn't expect similar defenses here. Damn it."

Rin sighed. "If you're going to keep talking about your life like that, you're going to have to sit down and explain yourself as soon as we get Emiya out of this mess. Half of what you say makes no sense."

Dresden grinned. "Or you could wait for the autobiography," he quipped and set off into the forest. Rin blinked as an idea occurred to her. _Could it really be that simple?_ she thought. As soon as they weren't preventing Emiya from dying, again, she had something she needed to check.

* * *

Shirou stood up from the mess of wood that used to be the chair he was tied to.

"Never thought my ability to badly reinforce stuff would be useful," he commented. Night had fallen, and without any lights, the room he was in only seemed to gain _more_ creepy qualities rather than lose them.

"I've got to get to Saber and the others, fast."

He made his way to the door Illya had left through and carefully opened the door. He saw a brightly lit hallway. What was concerning for him was the sound of approaching footsteps.

Shirou carefully closed the door so that it wouldn't make any sound.

"Great," he muttered. "She's got a guard out there." He backed away from the door and grabbed the poker from the fireplace near the door, raising the iron like a bat. He slowly crept back to the door so that he could listen.

There was a sound of protest before the sturdy wooden door was kicked out of its frame and a tall figure in black surged into the room with a shout of: "and I'm all out of-"

Shirou swung the poker out of complete reflex and shock at the sudden entrance. The figure spun, unnaturally fast, grabbed the poker with one hand and bent it 90 degrees before slamming his other arm into Shirou's chest and driving him into the wall.

Shirou met Harry's eyes for a dangerous second and he saw something primal and fearsome in them before it faded and recognition came. Dresden quickly averted his gaze and said, "Oh. Hi, Shirou."

The wizard stepped back and said, "He's here. It looks like he got himself out." Saber ran into the room a split second later.

"Saber," Shirou said. "What're you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she answered. Saber was joined by Link, Rin, and Archer.

"You're in better shape than we expected," Rin said. "I suppose this means you really didn't need our help after all."

"That's what I said from the beginning," Archer complained, refusing to even look in Shirou's direction. "We were better off just leaving you to your fate."

Link gave Shirou an acknowledging nod and turned to look where they had come from. "We're still clear for now," he reported.

"Link," Shirou said. "You're okay?"

"I regenerate," the hylian said, dismissively. "Why didn't you use a Command Seal to summon me, Shirou?"

"I was worried Illya might have had Berserker or Ghost Rider nearby," Shirou answered. "I didn't want to use a Seal unless I didn't have a choice."

Link tilted his head to one side in acknowledgement of the point. "So," he said. "You really can think every once in a while." Shirou gave Link a look.

"Come on," Rin said, starting to walk away. "Let's get out of here before Illya shows up."

Saber and Shirou nodded and the group made their way back down the hallway they'd come from. As they rounded the corner, Shirou glanced back and saw Saber on her hands and knees.

"Saber," Shirou said and ran back to her.

"I'm alright," she said, breathing hard.

"I knew it. You haven't recovered yet, have you?"

"It's true. Although it shames me to admit it." She met Shirou's eyes. "It doesn't matter. I can still provide adequate cover for you."

"No, you can't," Shirou told her. "Don't be ridiculous." He held out his hand. "Come on, lean on me."

"That won't be necessary."

"Do it, Saber!"

"Just leave her alone," Archer said, stepping back into the hallway.

"Oh, yeah?" Shirou asked, turning to face Archer.

"You need to give up the notion that you have any chance of saving her," Archer said. He gave Shirou a hard look. "You must accept the fact there's nothing you can do."

"No, I don't," Shirou said, obstinately.

"Stars and stones," Harry said, coming into view as well. "Can't you two stop it for five minutes? You can have the macho stare down when we're all out of here." Archer turned and made his way down the hall and Harry tossed something to Saber as she got back to her feet. "Drink that and call me in the morning," he told her. "It should last long enough for us to get out of here."

"What is it?" Shirou asked.

"Energy potion," Harry answered. "It'll give her a small boost so she won't collapse every few minutes, but that's all I can do. She won't be able to fight any more than she can already, but she'll be able to move without problems."

Saber eyed the plastic sports bottle dubiously before shaking her head and drinking the brown liquid inside. Shirou caught a brief smell of coffee as Saber downed the liquid. She shivered for a moment and then took off after the group, her movements more sure.

They made their way through the wide and lavishly decorated halls of the castle and it wasn't long before they reached a grand hall with a large staircase leading down toward a massive pair of doors.

"That's the," Shirou said.

"The exit," Rin finished. "It looks like we've made it without been detected."

"This is too easy," Harry said, adjusting his grip on his staff. "There are wards around this area. One of them has to tell Einzbern that she has guests. Why hasn't anything happened yet?"

"Then let's get out of here before our host decides to grace us with her presence," Rin said and lead the group down the stairs.

They were halfway down the entrance hall when it happened.

"What's wrong?" A girl's voice asked. "Leaving so soon? That's too bad, you just got here."

The group spun around to see Illyasviel von Einzbern standing at the top of the staircase."

"Way too easy," Harry said.

* * *

 **Author's note: So, it's just about time for another showdown. This is going to be a long and crazy night. You'll finally be getting your wish Darthwolf. There's going to be more Illya and her Servants for a little while. :)**

 **Naruto Sakura Uzumaki: I'm so happy that you brought that up. :D Link, as a Servant, is interesting. Because of the sheer number of times he's lived and fought, he takes on a particular version of himself when he's summoned. Whichever Link is most compatible with his Master is the Link that is summoned for the Holy Grail War. Think of Jack the Ripper from Fate/Apocrypha. There are different Jacks you can get depending on who you are (or so Warden Myst has told me with his extra research). However, Link is still connected to his other lives which can lead to… interesting consequences.  
** **Additionally, Link has used other equipment from different incarnations. Take another look at his fight with Sinon and you'll see them. It's subtle, but they are there. He also used one or two during his fight with Berserker. His default preferences are just for the gear with his primary incarnation, in this case Twilight Princess.**

 **As always, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

 _Bloody constraint. For should you try to hide the crown from him, even in your hearts, there he shall rake for it._ \- Henry V, William Shakespeare

"Good evening," Illya said. "Now I don't have to go looking for you all. Thank you." Silence was the girl's only reply. "Huh? Something wrong?" she asked. "Come on guys, I'm giving you a lot of time to come up with some last words here. It's more fun if I at least here you say something before I kill you."

"Oh, is that all?" Harry asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I figured you were just going into the stereotypical evil overlord gloat mode. But now I understand perfectly. Thanks for clarifying." He lifted a hand and poorly hid a staged yawn. "Let me know if you're going to start though. I could use the excuse for a nap."

Illya grimaced in annoyance. "You're not nearly as funny as you think you are," she told him.

Harry sighed dramatically. "Yeah. I mean I know I find myself hysterical, but I guess the hard truth is that I'm only hilarious. How will I ever live with the shame?"

"Harry," Rin chided him.

"Do you have any final words, Caster?" Illya asked, her voice colder. There was a growl and Berserker dropped out of thin air and landed just in front of the stairs. Ghost Rider materialized next to the hulking Servant with a swirl of fire.

"Plenty," Harry answered. "But I'll save them for later. I have an offer for you, if you're interested."

"Oh?" Illya asked. "And what might that be?"

"That you let us go," Harry answered. "Unharmed and unpursued."

"And what would I get?" Illya asked, clearly disinterested.

"Elf boy and Saber don't curb stomp Hercules: the Greek Incredible Hulk there and Archer and I don't turn Ghost Rider into chew toys for my dog."

"No one can beat my Berserker and Rider," Illya said. "So, no. I don't think I'll let you go. If that's all, let's get started." Illya raised one hand solemnly. "You have my word, I won't let anyone escape."

Saber started to speak, but was caught off by the sound of Link drawing his sword.

"Don't even think about it, Saber," he said, his voice deadly serious. "You're in no condition to fight, and we both know it. It's my turn. Take Shirou and go."

"Listen to me Archer," Rin said, quietly. "It doesn't have to be for long, but I need you to try and slow them down for a little bit."

"Tohsaka," Shirou said.

"That's absurd, have you lost your mind, Rin?" Saber asked. "He can't take them on by himself."

"And he's not going to," Link said. "We can slow them down long enough for Harry to warp you out. As soon as you're clear we can pull back. I know I don't plan on dying here."

"That is the wisest course of action," Archer agreed. "If you can escape first, Link and I should be able to follow. Independent actions are a specialty of the Archer class."

He and Link both stepped forward. Ghost Rider unslung the chain around his body and began to spin one end carelessly.

"Wow. I don't believe it," Illya said. "Do you really think those two are going to be able to stop both of my Servants? You do remember what happened last time, right? Neither Saber could stop my Hercules, and that Caster was forced to run away from my Rider."

"By the way, Rin," Archer said. "Let's be clear on something here." Rin glanced at Archer. "If all you want me to do is buy you time I can do that. However, would you be disappointed if I just destroyed them instead?" He turned his head just enough to give Rin his signature cocky smile.

"Archer," she said, and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she said, "Go ahead. If you want to take them, take them. Just don't get yourself killed, alright? I'd rather you stay alive."

"Excellent," he answered. "I hope I won't disappoint you."

"That thing you told Rin and I on the roof back when this all started," Harry said. "How true was it?"

Archer gave Dresden a look and the wizard's eyes flicked around for a moment, trying to convey something. Archer smiled in reply.

"I'll manage," he said. "It's true enough."

"Hmp," Illya said. "Go on Berserker, Rider. Tear them apart. I want those Servants dead."

Berserker roared with fury and Ghost Rider flung his chain forward, only for the links of metal to be knocked aside by Link's sword.

"Now's our chance," Rin said. "Come on, let's go!" She ran for the exit.

"But," Shirou said.

"Come on, Shirou," Saber said softly. "This is our only chance to escape." Then she turned and ran after Rin.

Shirou turned and heard a voice call to him over the sound of Link intercepting more lashes of Ghost Rider's chain.

"Shirou Emiya," Archer said. Shirou stopped and looked at Archer. "Listen closely: You aren't a person who fights. You're a person who creates. Clear everything else from your mind. There is only one thing you are capable of so it's imperative that you master it."

The Servant held out his hands and the twin falchions materialized in his hands. "Never forget: That what you should always be visualizing is you performing at your absolute best. You don't need external enemies. Your own worst enemy is the image you have of yourself in your head.

"Now GO!" he shouted and threw one sword into the ceiling. Cracks formed and rubble began to crash down between himself and Link, and Shirou and Harry.

"Shirou!" Harry shouted. "Let's go!"

Shirou turned and ran and Harry lifted his staff as he ran beside him. " _Hexsus!_ " he shouted. Chaotic magical energy scattered from the Caster and every light in the entrance hall, and probably the entire building, died with a collection of pops and clinking glass.

Harry stopped just at the open doorway and shouted as loudly as he could. "He's weak against sunlight! Any part of him touches sunlight is completely human!" Then he ran out of the castle.

Harry, Shirou, Saber, and Rin ran down the path away from the castle.

"Which way?" Shirou asked, mostly carrying Saber as they ran.

"Follow me!" Rin answered and took the lead as they fled at a dead sprint. Her face was grim with worry as they ran away from the battle taking place. "Be careful, Archer."

* * *

The white falchion fell from the ceiling with the debris from the upper floor and back into Archer's empty hand and Link brought his sword and shield into guard. Ghost Rider cracked his neck and Berserker growled.

Nothing happened a single, crystalline second. Then all four of them moved with blinding speed.

Link didn't look at Archer or Berserker, he'd let them go at it until he was needed to interfere. His sole focus was the Rider.

Harry's voice rang out behind him as he moved and all of the lights suddenly went out.

"He's weak against sunlight! Any part of him touches sunlight is completely human!"

Link's eyes widened for a split second and then there was a cracking sound as the chain in Ghost Rider's hands lashed through the air toward him. That attack from the darkness revealed a flaw in Ghost Rider's Noble Phantasm.

Anything he brought under his will with Hellfire shone with the hellish light of the demonic power, much like his skeletal body. It wasn't much light, and might even be able to be suppressed, but, in his haste, Ghost Rider hadn't taken any steps to reduce the light from his weapon, thereby revealing the exact path the weapon was going.

Link spun and met the links of the chain with the blade of his sword, knocking the attack away as he continued to charge forward. Then he called out in a clear ringing tone: _**"Blade of Evil's Bane!"**_

The Master Sword blazed with golden light, filling the entrance hall with unnatural, but undeniable sunlight. Ghost Rider howled in rage and twirled his chain back toward Link as the sunlight began to intensify.

The Hero of Twilight dodged the strike and swung the Master Sword at the Rider. Ghost Rider dodged and rapidly retreated from Link's flurry of flow-up attacks. Something like smoke seemed to be rising from Ghost Rider's form as he retreated.

"Berserker!" Ghost Rider shouted, undeniable fear in his tone.

Link didn't get any warning before Archer was flung into him like a human wrecking ball, sending them both sprawling across the entrance hall. Ghost Rider fled down a hallway.

"Sunlight?" Archer asked, rising to his feet.

"Near enough," Link said, rising as well. "The sunlight known to another realm, infused into the sword."

Archer smirked. "Handy," he said.

"Kill them, Berserker!" Illya shouted. The brute roared and charged toward the pair of heroic spirits.

"Boost me," Link said and leapt into the air. Archer spun the falchions in his hands until their tips pointed down and raised his arms over his head. Link landed on them and Archer helped propel Link into another leap, one that carried the saber over Berserker's charging form.

Link rotated in the air, his bow appearing in his hands with a bomb arrow already on the string. He released the shaft even as Archer spun his twin swords back up right and slashed them down at Berserker.

The detonation of the bomb kicked up a cloud of dust and debris that obscured all sight.

"Go!" Archer directed. "If Rider gets out of the castle then he'll start hunting down the others!"

Link didn't need to be told twice. He had the greatest advantage against Ghost Rider and Archer was completely correct.

He made his way through the cloud and into the hallway Ghost Rider had fled down, blazing sword in hand once again. There was the clanging as metal as Hellfire infused suits of armor charged down the hallway toward him, battle axes already in mid swing.

But this was the type of fight Link excelled in. He slammed his shield into the first suit of armor and knocked it back a critical step, then launched himself into the air, driving his sword into the head of the enemy with the Helm Splitter technique taught to him by the Hero Spirit. He immediately launched himself back at the suit of armor and drove his sword into the back of the armor before it had the time to turn around, completing the Back Slice maneuver that had been passed on to him.

The suit of armor simply fell apart with the overwhelming damage Link inflicted on it and he turned to face the second suit of armor, sliding his sword back into its sheath on his back as he did.

The second set of armor wasn't smart enough to spot the trap and charged him with its axe held at the ready. Link waited until the last second and then drew and slashed his sword in one fluid strike, destroying the suit of armor with one, overwhelmingly devastating blow. The Mortal Draw.

It was as he'd told Shirou. Legacy was important with swords. The most powerful and devastating techniques were passed from master to apprentice and improved with time. And there was no sword style that had even been used as much or passed down as often as his own.

Link set off down the hallway in pursuit of Ghost Rider. He rounded a corner and was immediately forced to move back as gunfire started.

The demonic Rider was standing at the other end of the hall, holding a black, spikey, rifle and firing at him with reasonable accuracy, despite the lack of lights. Link mentally reached into his pack and swapped the Master Sword with the Gale Boomerang and hurled the weapon around the corner.

He didn't need to see the weapon's path to know what was happening. The Gale Boomerang held a fairy within in that summoned and controlled winds. The boomerang would grab any unattended object in its path and spin it in the whirlwind the boomerang created.

The sounds of paintings and other decorations being ripped from their positions and thrown toward Ghost Rider filled the hallway. The sound was so loud that the only reason Link evaded the incoming attack was because the triforce on his hand suddenly blazed to warning life.

Link glanced over his shoulder and saw the two glowing birds streaking toward him, pulses of magical energy flashing toward him with destructive intent. He threw himself into a lateral roll and brought his shield up in front of him.

They'd figured the sides wrong. It wasn't Link and Archer vs Berserker and Ghost Rider. It was Link and Archer vs Berserker, Ghost Rider, and _Illya_. Even if the Master couldn't reasonably kill a Servant, the familiars she could call into being could serve as a distraction at a minimum.

Link used his shield to protect himself from the arcane blasts as a bomb materialized in his other hand, fuse already glowing with sparks. He pitched the explosive over the shield and then dashed into the hallway where Ghost Rider had been waiting for him.

The hallway was largely bare of decorations, thanks to the efforts of the Gale Boomerang, though the fact that the paintings and vases were in a pile to one side of the hallway begged the question of what had actually happened while he'd been distracted by the bird familiars.

There was the roar of an engine and Link saw Ghost Rider astride his flaming motorcycle barreling through the pile and straight towards him. The motorcycle slammed into Link and sent him through the wall behind him and outside of the building.

Pain flared across Link as he hit the ground and went into a roll. Ghost Rider spun his bike to face Link. To make matters worse, the damned birds flew out of the hole the two Servants had made and prepared to open fire.

Link shot to his feet as the Master Sword returned to his hand and the golden light radiating from the blade was suffused with blue light as well. Link spun in a circle and an arc of radiant light slashed through the air toward Ghost Rider as he turned to face Illya's familiars.

They opened fire and Link charged forward, his boots changing to the pegasus boots and granting him their enhanced speed. He effortlessly evaded the barrage and then ran up the ruined castle wall. A moment later, he pushed off of the wall and slashed both familiars out of the air.

Link fell back toward the earth and chains suddenly shot through the air and wrapped themselves around him. The hellfire infused metal began to burn him as he was dragged to the ground with considerable force.

The chains all connected to Ghost Rider's own chest, and the demonic man took advantage of Link's prone position to level a shotgun at the hylian. Link struggled against his bonds and managed to adjust his position just enough to bring his shield into the correct alignment.

 _ **"Shield of Hyrule,"**_ he declared, and his shield expanded into a magical barrier, shattering the chains binding him and intercepting the blast of Hellfire that left the shotgun's barrel a second later.

Link leapt to his feet and brought the Master Sword up into a guard position.

""You're good, Ghost Rider," Link said. "You've been staying out of my effective range, making my sol enhanced blade less likely to hit you. I wonder what will happen if I manage to land a blow? Will it kill you outright? You're not turning human instantly which means that my sunlight needs time to affect you."

"You're welcome to try, Link of Hyrule," Ghost Rider replied, his body starting to smoke again from the sunlight. The two Servants readied themselves for another bout.

A voice rang out from the nearby entrance hall of the castle, and with those words the world itself seemed to ripple and distort with energy.

" _And so I pray:_ _ **Unlimited Blade Works!**_ _"_

Ghost Rider vanished with the pulse of power that followed those words, and Link stood alone outside of the Einzbern castle.

The saber spun, looking around wildly, but he was alone. He couldn't sense Archer, Berserker, or Ghost Rider anywhere near him. It was as if they had all simply ceased to exist.

Cautiously, Link stopped his Noble Phantasms, the light from the Master sword fading away and the barrier collapsing back into his shield.

He ran down the path, hoping he'd be able to find Shirou and the others quickly. Whatever Archer had done was only going to last so long, and it was smarter to regroup now that the immediate threat was gone.

* * *

 **Author's note: So close, Link. So close. Not really much to comment on here. Mostly some ass-kicking and another Noble Phantasm. But boy do I have some stuff for the next chapter or two.**

 **As always, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

 _I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn. And we are lead to those who help us most to grow if we let them, and we help them in return. Well I don't know if I believe that's true, but I know I'm who I am who I am today, because I knew you._ \- Glinda, Wicked

Birds suddenly took off and began cawing their displeasure. Rin stopped running and gripped her right wrist with her other hand.

"Tohsaka?" Shirou asked, stopping as well.

Rin's entire body was quivering, as if something was tearing her apart on the inside. Then she let out a gasping sound and whispered, "I can't do it," in a low, broken tone.

Before anyone could ask what was happening, she lurched her hand into the air and shouted so loudly that it sounded like something tore in her throat, " _Archer!_ "

Her final Command Seal flashed with red light and faded into invisibility. Archer appeared next to her an instant. He was battered, bloody, and confused, but he was there and clearly, if barely, alive.

The confusion shifted into incandescent fury and Archer rounded on his Master, fire blazing in his eyes and voice.

"WHY?!" he demanded, in outrage. "Why would you waste a Command Seal on something like this?!"

Rin slumped to the ground, her hands digging into the earth. Something glimmered as it fell to the ground before her.

"I…" she said, her composure gone. "I couldn't…" Some steel came back into her voice as she finished with "I couldn't just throw you away like some tool! You're not a weapon! Not some familiar to be used and forgotten once its gone!" Archer took a step back, surprised at the vehemence in Rin's reply. "I never asked you if you remembered your name," she continued. "So I could never call you anything other than what you were. You may be an epic spirit placed in a shell, but that doesn't make you any less of who you were when you lived. I don't have the right to leave you to your death when I could stop it. Hate me if you want, but that's what's right!"

"You're letting sentiment cloud your better judgement," Archer snapped. "I am a Servant. Of course I'm going to fall during this war."

Rin shook her head. "I asked you not to kill yourself," she shot back. "I said that because I still need you! I want you there to help watch my back! I want you there to make fun of me and to just _be_ there!"

Archer spun away from her, not to face Shirou, but Dresden. "This is your fault," he snarled. "Encouraging this kind of weakness wi-"

Dresden slugged Archer squarely in the jaw with enough force to send Archer spinning into a nearby tree. The wizard had moved so fast that he'd been little more than a dark blur of motion and the blow was particularly vicious because his hand was covered in thick, jagged ice.

Harry was on top of Archer again in less than a second, slamming the bowman into the tree and leaning in close to the other Servant.

"Rin just saved your life," Harry snarled, his voice dangerous and low. His expression was twisted into something that could only be called fury only because there wasn't another word to describe the anger burning there.

His breath coalesced into a cloud and frost formed on Archer's eyelashes. Goosebumps spread across Shirou's body and he realized that the air temperature had dropped several degrees. "And it cost her something to say that. To admit it in front of you. Belittle that admission one more time, and you'll wish that she left you to the tender mercies of Berserker and Ghost Rider."

Dresden shoved Archer into the tree one more time before stepping away, the ice surrounding his hands crackling as they tightened into fists.

"Do you have any idea how much people truly mean to her?" he demanded. "How close she holds them, despite what she's been taught, what she knows is supposed to the proper attitude of a practitioner in this godforsaken universe? I Saw it. I know it. Do you, Archer?"

Archer and Harry stared at each other, neither side blinking… but Archer refused to meet Dresen's eyes.

Shirou felt… shame. He looked at Rin and, for probably the first time in his life, thought about his own attitude and approach to situations.

His goal in living, in helping others, was to make people's lives better and happier. But he never thought about what mark something like his own death might leave on others, much like Archer hadn't seemed to realize what his own passing might do to Rin. He knew he'd still sacrifice himself if it meant saving someone, but he realized that he might not be able to look at it in the same manner that he did before.

It certainly made a step toward explaining why everyone around him insisted that he should think about himself every once in a while. Even Harry, who fully supported Shirou's drive to help and support others had told him to wait until he knew the moment to lay down his life.

Archer turned away and closed his eyes. "Your point has been made," he said. He didn't look at anyone. "I suppose I should make the most of this," he added. Then he dematerialized before anyone could speak.

The ice around Dresden's hands cracked and fell off of his body as he muttered a disparaging remark and approached Rin. He knelt by her side and wrapped her in a fatherly hug. He whispered something into her ear and she returned the gesture.

Shirou could see her composure returning, and heard Saber fall to the ground.

Shirou turned and saw Saber on her hands and knees, her face flushed and sweating.

"Saber!" Shirou shouted in alarm. "Rin, Harry, she needs help."

"Shirou," she said. She was panting heavily and her body felt like it was burning up when Shirou laid his hand on her shoulder.

"It looks like the energy potion's worn off," Harry said.

"Okay, that's it. You've pushed yourself too far," Shirou told her.

"What are you talking about?" Saber snapped. "I've been in worse situations than this."

"Really?" Harry asked, looking slightly distracted. "How many times have you been chased down by Greek super-killing machines and demonic men wearing Hellfire? Because that seems like a unique experience to me."

"I've carried on before and I can carry on now," she answered, ignoring Harry's quip. "I'm quite capable of getting out of this myself." She grabbed Shirou's hand and pointedly moved it off of her shoulder.

"No matter how many times you've experienced it, pain is still pain," Shirou said. Then he forced himself under one of her arms. "You know, you're life would be a bit easier if you just learned to complain a bit more." Shirou hauled Saber into his arms and lifted her up.

"You're one to talk," Harry said, looking even more distracted now.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Saber demanded.

"I'm forcing you to take a break," Shirou answered. "Watching you to run with that look on your face is causing me some serious pain."

"You're being absurd," Saber said. "Let go of me!" She started to thrash around. "If you think I'm going to collapse because of some minor little-"

"Will you stop fighting me?" Shirou demanded. "This is an order from your Master! So just do it!"

"If she continues to resist," Rin said, her voice something like normal again. "You could just use a Command Seal."

Saber froze at the suggestion and shot Rin a glare.

"That's not-" she started to shoot back.

" _Stop_ ," Dresden said, in a tone of pure, cold, authority. Everyone, even Saber, stopped and glanced toward Harry. Once he was certain he had everyone's undivided attention, he spoke again.

"Saber," he said. "Listen to Shirou, and rest. Shirou, you and Saber need to do everything in your power to not look any more vulnerable than you already do. It's hard enough to maintain control right now as it is."

"Harry?" Rin asked. He didn't answer. His eyes were half-closed and he seemed to be in deep thought. It looked he was muttering… math problems?

He opened his eyes and said: "We're not going to get out of the forest without tipping off our location. We need to hide."

Rapid footsteps approached and Link skidded to a stop by Shirou and Saber. "What'd I miss?" the second saber asked.

"What're you doing here?" Shirou asked.

Link shrugged. "Archer did _something_ and he, Ghost Rider, and Berserker all vanished. I figured whatever he did was going to keep them busy and decided to try and get back to you. You guys actually made really good time. I had to use my pegasus boots to catch up. Even with Berserker and Ghost Rider's speed, it'll take time for them to find you." He glanced around at everyone. "Did something happen to Archer?"

"Later," Rin answered and turned back to Harry. "Where?"

Harry bent down and held out a hand. _**"Cold Days,"**_ he intoned. There was a ripple of power through the air and a light appeared in the air and flew to the wizard's open hand.

"What is your command, my lord of pizza?" came a high voice.

Shirou blinked in surprise and focused on the ball of light. The illumination shone from a tiny figure shaped like an athletic youth. He had a tuft of purple hair and dragonfly wings on his back. His body was covered with various pieces of, well, trash and detritus shaped into armor. There were three letter openers shaped like swords strapped to his back.

"General," Harry replied, his tone serious. "I need you to find us some shelter," he said. "Somewhere intact and out of sight of the path. Don't go anywhere near the big castle behind us."

The, and Shirou couldn't believe he was about to even think the word, _fairy_ snapped Rin's Caster a crisp salute and immediately buzzed away.

There was a moment of silence, and then Rin began to laugh. "You," she said, fighting back the laugh. "You are a drug dealer to tiny fairies. I didn't think you were serious."

"People underestimate the hell out of the little folk," Harry said. "Back home I've got several dozen of them on the payroll, plus maybe a few hundred part-timers."

Shirou's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "You have ready access to a few _hundred_ fairies?" he asked.

Harry gave Shirou a wolfish smile, his eyes gleaming. "You'd be amazed how useful they can be," he said. Dresden pointedly didn't look at Saber as he spoke, staring hard at Shirou's nose.

They caught Link up on the highlights of their flight and Archer's departure and Link was wrapping up his explanation of events when the fairy returned.

"My lord," he reported. "There is a really old building further down the path and out of sight of any enemies that might be after you."

"Good," Harry said. "Thanks, Toot. Guide us there."

"Yes, my lord," the fairy answered and zoomed off into the forest again.

They made their way through the forest, Shirou carrying Saber and refusing to let anyone else take up the burden. Her body was burning with heat and she seemed even lighter than she had before. It didn't seem like she'd last that long if she kept pushing herself.

Shirou shook his head sharply as they continued to make their hurried way through the forest after the fairy.

It didn't take them long to find the structure in question. Once Harry reached the front door of the creepy, dilapidated, but serviceable building, the fairy vanished into sparks of light.

"What is this place?" Shirou asked.

"Something the Einzberns have abandoned," Rin answered and entered. The bottom floor was simply too ruined and destroyed by the roots of the old trees to be serviceable, but a stairway leading to a second floor was largely intact.

It wasn't long before they found the best room to hide out in. Rin immediately made her way to the far side of the room and started to clear and straighten up a large bed that was there.

"Shirou, we're going to need to lie Saber down," she said.

Shirou snapped back to reality and made his way to the now cleared bed and laid Saber out on it. Dresden and stayed near the door while Rin and Shirou tried to make Saber comfortable.

"How're you feeling, Saber? Can you move?" Rin asked.

"Yes," Saber answered. "Since Shirou carried me, I can still maintain myself."

Shirou's face flashed with concern. So he'd been right in worrying that Saber wasn't going to last long.

"If Illyasviel is chasing us," Rin said. "It'll be awhile before they get here. And if they take their time looking for us, you might even be able to hide out in here until daybreak."

"Tohsaka," Shirou said, slowly. "About Archer." Shirou started to say more, but Harry shot him a hard look and Shirou immediately shut his mouth. Rin clenched her hands into fists.

"Berserker tried to kill Archer," she said. "And now he's run off because I can't control him anymore. I'm going to return the favor, find Archer and beat some sense into him if I have to." She fixed her gaze on Shirou, who was sitting on the bed next to Saber's prone form. "It's my personal belief that if you have time to worry, then you have time to do something about it. That means, when the time comes, you need to be ready too."

"Sure," Shirou said. "But, how?"

"There's no way that Berserker left that battle without some kind of injury," Link said. "I know for a fact Ghost Rider's pretty concerned about me now, since my sword contains sunlight."

"I have a special stash of gems that I brought with me tonight," Rin said. "If we can get Saber back on her feet, then we might be able to come up with a plan to get us out of here."

"But how are we gonna do that if I can't help her?" Shirou asked.

"The only thing she needs to get going is more mana," Rin answered. "If we can get her at least the bare minimum her body requires, then she should be able to recover like she always has."

"Fine," Harry said. "How? It's not like I can just pour energy into her or something. I'm out of energy potions and those just provide energy to get up and move around, not power something as high maintenance as a Servant."

"If there's a way to save her, I'll do it," Shirou said. Then he stopped for a second, before adding: "Wait, hold on. If it involves forcing her to attack somebody you can forget it."

"Even if we were inclined to take the more reprehensible route," Link added. "There isn't anyone she could attack to steal life force from anyway."

Rin didn't answer immediately. "There actually is another reliable way to transfer mana from one person to another. I didn't think it would come to this, so I didn't mention it before. A path should have been formed during the summoning, after all."

"What does that mean?" Shirou asked.

"You and Saber are more than just spiritually connected, you also have a physically connected path. So there's no reason to use a difficult magical ritual to try and give her energy when you can use the other path instead."

Harry spun to face his Master while Shirou and Link stared blankly at Rin. "Stars and stones, Rin," he said. "Are you seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Rin didn't answer immediately.

"But… You… You're…" Dresden spluttered and waved his arms in front of himself. Then he shut his eyes and seemed to be counting to himself. "I can't stay here," he said.

He grabbed Link by the scruff of his neck and proceeded to drag the saber out of the building. "I refuse to think about this," Harry muttered to himself as he dragged Link out of the room and toward the stairs. "You two are 17, she's a 2000 year old epic spirit stuck in a 17 year old body. The weirdometer is officially out of my comfort zone. Come on, mutt. Let's go kill Ghost Rider."

"But-" Link said.

"Finish that sentence with anything other than 'Sure, Harry, I'll help you annihilate the enemy Servant that can sense your location' and I will turn you into a popsicle and sit you somewhere to thaw out where you can't watch."

There was a moment of silence and then Link said: "Sure, Harry, I'll help you annihilate the enemy Servant that can sense your location."

"Wonderful," Harry said and firmly shut the door behind them.

Shirou stared at the doorway Harry and Link had left through and turned his attention back to Rin. "How exactly am I supposed to give Saber energy?" he asked warily.

Rin gave Shirou a surprised look.

"You sleep with her," she said in a matter of fact tone. "Fortunately, she's a girl, so it should be easy, right?"

Something in Shirou's brain turned off and made an impression of a testing pattern on a television. Then:

"WWWHHHAAATTT?!" he demanded. That single word turned Shirou's brain back on and he started babbling. "W-w-w-wait. Wh-why are we going this way all of a sudden?!"

Rin tilted her head in confusion. "What are you so surprised about? Unison from sex is standard procedure. You didn't know that mages sell donations to the Association?"

Shirou started babbling even more but Rin got up close and said: "I don't know what you're panicking about, but you said you were willing to save her. This is the only way, so don't give us too much trouble."

"But… that's," Shirou said, faltering.

"We don't have time to be arguing! We're going to need to heal Saber and Harry and Link can only buy us so much time before they'll have to retreat. We're going to need all hands on deck to defeat Berserker and Ghost Rider, so there's only one thing to do!" She fixed Shirou with a hard stare. "I'm not going to let this whole night be in vain. I'm going to make sure we use every trick we've got to stay alive!"

Shirou's brain was getting fuzzy with greater and greater confusion. Some part of him was trying to imagine actually sleeping with Saber and that only added to the mental haze.

Shirou's face was a bright and blazing red color and it felt like the heat from the blush might even change the temperature in the room. To make matters even worse, Saber was breathing heavily on the bed next to him.

Then something occurred to him. An escape route from the embarrassing scene happening to him and he jumped on it.

"The plan won't work anyway, Tohsaka. Ignoring me for the moment, Saber would never do something like this just to get mana."

A disturbingly evil smirk stretched Rin's lips. "Really?" she asked. "Then why don't you ask her?"

Shirou slowly turned his head to look at Saber. She was still breathing heavily and her gaze kept moving between Rin and Shirou. But she hadn't objected during the entire exchange.

"Saber?" he asked.

There was a long pause. Then… in a small, shy voice. "No, I wouldn't mind, Shirou."

Shirou's brain turned off again. The crisis that he'd been avoiding ever since the war got started had finally come crashing down upon him.

Saber was devastatingly beautiful. If he was being completely honest, he'd been starstruck from the moment she'd first appeared in his shed. Moments alone with her had always been slightly awkward because of that. Granted that had been somewhat alleviated by the fact that she would consistently beat the tar out of him in their training sessions. But then he'd seen her naked, which had added all sorts of additional problems in his mind.

He wanted her, which was why he was in a state of blind panic. He was fighting desperately to not remember the heat of her body, the lightness of her form, what she'd looked like when he'd seen her naked. He didn't trust himself if he thought about it.

Rin's evil smirk became an evil smile. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Don't you want to have sex with her?" Her eyes lit up briefly. "Oh, are you impotent?"

"No!" Shirou snapped. "It's just that I feel bad for Saber, this isn't the right time, I can't think straight, and this… is my first time."

It took Shirou a moment before he realized what he'd just admitted out loud.

"Oh, then you're already fine mentally," Rin said. "Well, I know how you feel, but just accept it for now." Then she stepped closer.

Shirou tensed reflexively, but then something unexpected happened.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But we don't have time to slowly put you in the mood. Hold still, Shirou." She reached out, grabbed Shirou's face with both hands and turned him to look at her. Then she kissed him with lips that seemed impossibly soft.

Shirou stopped breathing. He tasted something sweet as Rin pressed their lips together. Some small part of Shirou's mind realized that Rin might not be used to the sensation either. She felt hot and their touching noses tickled as they brushed against each other.

Then they parted and Rin backed away, closer to the bed.

"Have you calmed down?" she asked. Shirou couldn't answer. He tried to form words, to say how contradictory the question was, since Rin herself was flushed red. All his brain would give him was something like an error message.

 _Shirou . exe has crashed. Would you like to reboot?_

"Sorry it was me," Rin added. "Anyway, I have no intention of backing out now. You can just watch from over there. I don't think you can do it the way you are now, so I'll help you out so you and Saber will feel more in the mood."

Rin climbed onto the bed and propped herself over Saber.

"Rin?! What are you doing?" Saber asked, sounding confused.

"I'm helping. It seems like you two aren't used to it, so I'm going to help you both." Then Rin kissed Saber, her hands moving along the Servant's prone form. One ran up Saber's body and started tugging away that ribbon tied at her neck.

The other hand moved lower, down toward her legs and the hem of her skirt. The ribbon fluttered to the ground beside the bed and Shirou reflexively closed his eyes.

* * *

 **Author's note: Sorry, no Unlimited Blade Works battles yet. I think I'll save that for a better moment. -evil smile-**

 **Lord of Memory: Sorry, buddy. What happened in that marble is going to stay in that marble. But I think you'll like what I have planned.**

 **Zane: Wait until next chapter. :)**

 **Barstool: First, I want to say thank you for leaving me an honest criticism. You made me sit down and think about my story thus far and I appreciate that. Now, in response to your review. When I sit down and think about it, yeah, Shirou is acting fairly idiotic when it comes to battle and matters of the arcane, especially where you have left your review.  
** **Unfortunately, the heartless truth of the situation is that Fate Shirou, and I think it's pretty clear by now that I'm working with Fate Shirou, is extremely out of his depth when it comes to battle and magecraft, and the war as a whole. When Shirou is out of his element, he defaults to his usual self and grabs an idea and doesn't stop running with it until he gets it done. Fortunately, this is not simply Fate. Shirou will grow in both competence and confidence with his abilities as time goes on because he's being exposed to characters who can help him in varied skills. But, in order to do that, Shirou has to start somewhere and the Fate timeline gave me a more inept Shirou to start with.  
** **I hope you're still reading this story as I would very much love for you to see Shirou and Fate/Fantasy grow.**

 **As always, don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! It always overjoys me to get the alerts and to read what you all have to say about this story. I love knowing that I'm giving you something fun and would love to hear your thoughts.  
** **Plus, if you have a question or comment that I can respond to, I'll do so in my author's notes at the end of my chapters. Or you can always PM me or Warden Myst if you want the discussion to be less public.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

 _Do you know what your Sin is?_ -The Operative, Serenity

Harry made his way through the forest and fought desperately not to think about what was going on behind him. It had taken considerable effort to keep the Mantle at bay while they were simply fleeing from the castle.

The Winter Knight was not prey and the Winter inside of him snapped and snarled at the thought of being driven away from the hunt to protect a weaker member of the pack. It pushed his inner predator to find another target, and there had been an extremely attractive and vulnerable one nearby.

Compounding the issue was the fact that that same vulnerable prey was now currently having sex with the guy she was clearly interested in but too dense to realize she was interested in, and the Winter mantle thought _that_ was a fun idea too.

Violence, conquest, mating, all the primal desires of humanity were bound within the power of Winter, and it took effort to keep those fey impulses at bay.

He'd hoped that Lash might have been able to interfere with the Mantle's impulses, but something about her intervention interrupted the powers given to him by the Mantle. He'd learned to control it before, and he fell back on those methods instead. He asserted his more rational mind and used logic to push back against the impulses that told him to turn around and join in what was happening with Saber. It already created enough issues without adding his own supernatural hangups to the equation.

"So," Link said. "What's the plan?"

"I'm hoping we can draw Ghost Rider out and force him to work alone instead of alongside Berserker," Harry answered. If the saber realized Harry was in the middle of an internal war, he didn't show it.

"Ghost Rider can instinctively tell the guilty from the innocent," Harry explained. "I think the Grail gave him the ability to sense the crimes of Servants and their Masters. He found me way too easily in the forest last time we fought."

Link's eyes widened with realization. "So you think you can set a trap?" he asked. "Keep him busy long enough for me to get close?"

"That's the idea," Harry answered. "But we have to make sure Berserker doesn't come in for the fun too."

Link made a thoughtful sound. "I think Archer did something that might make them more cautious about just charging into the fight."

"I'll make good bait," Dresden answered. "He won't be able to help himself. And I can make sure he won't get out short of a Command Seal."

"Do you think he'll fall for it with both of us here?" Link asked.

"He'll fall for it because you're going to astralize and keep an eye out for Berserker," Dresden answered. "Don't hop into the fight unless you absolutely have to. If you see an opening, go for it, otherwise stay clear."

Link raised an eyebrow. "You realize how likely you are to die if we do it this way, right?"

Harry sighed. "Yeah. But it's the only way that will work. If he finds Shirou and Rin, they're dead. We have to draw Illya's attention away from them, and I'm the only bait we have on hand. If I catch their attention, they'll assume it's a trap to draw them away from Rin and Shirou, but Ghost Rider won't be able to help himself, so he'll come after me alone. They won't expect you floating around as backup since, to them, it's smarter for you to be covering Shirou's getaway in case this ploy doesn't work."

Link shook his head. "Damn it," he said. "I hate it, but you're right. You're sure you can get him locked down?"

"Yes."

Link faded away. " _Then don't die on me, Harry,_ " he said. " _Rin will never forgive you if you do._ "

"I know," Harry whispered. The mentioning of Rin's name brought back the memory of what he had seen inside of her. The truths revealed to him in the Soulgaze.

He kept walking until he was a considerable distance away from Rin and Shirou's hiding place. It was easy for him to move in the forest, he'd had plenty of practice doing it on his island. He might not have intellectus, but he knew how to move in thick foliage. That and the speed given to him by the Mantle let him make good time and cover a greater distance.

He stopped and stood in a clearing, looking up at the moon hanging in the sky like a stage light. Rin wouldn't handle it if he died. Despite all her posturing as a mage, she held people close. Losing one of them would scar her.

But it wouldn't be the first time he'd harmed those close to him. Molly, Michael, Murphy… Susan.

He closed his eyes and relived it again. That night in the temple of Chichen Itza. Bloodshed, hope, the betrayal, the con… the kiss… the knife. The memories had burned him, when he'd been a mostly dead ghost, and they burned him now.

It had been necessary. Her death had saved Maggie, ended the war, killed every one of the Reds, and it had stained his soul. He'd never forgive himself for what he'd done to her.

Other things came to him. Harvey Morrison, who he'd been unable to save. Quintus Cassius, who he'd murdered. Capio Corpus, who he'd shot after stealing Anastasia's body. Kirby, who'd died because of him. Kim Dulane, who he hadn't taught well enough to avoid danger.

Memories poured through his mind; failures, sins, and regrets. He thought of every wrong he'd done, every innocent he'd led to injury or death because of his actions and arrogance.

Jack had been right. Had he stayed, he might've been put on a Southbound train.

Ghost Rider wasn't long in coming. The motorcycle roared through the air and circled the clearing as it came down and to a stop just inside the clearing he stood in.

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden opened his eyes and looked at the Spirit of Vengeance who had arrived to punish him for his sins.

"Guilty," Ghost Rider said, pointing a bone finger at him.

"Yes," Harry said, his voice soft but carrying in the silence. "I'm guilty." He gripped his staff in his hand. "And we're going to put an end to this. Right now."

He lifted slammed his staff into the earth and shouted: _**"Dead Beat!"**_

Power pulsed through the air and a massive circle of coiled barbed wire formed outside of the clearing, trapping both of the Servants inside the ring.

It was an enlarged version of the circle he'd used on a stormy Halloween night to trap the Earl King, a wild fey of such power that he could rival the Queen of Air and Darkness, Mab herself, if he wished it.

It had been personalized circle, meant to contain the head of the Wild Hunt. And Ghost Rider was, at the end of the day, a hunter.

The circle rose and cut off access to all of the magical energy outside of its boundary, and locked both of them inside the field. There were only two ways for the circle to drop. Either a mortal had to break the boundary, or Harry would have to turn off his Noble Phantasm.

Neither of them would be escaping the boundary, and Harry wouldn't be able to draw in more magical energy from the world around him while it was still up. Which was why he'd been drawing in power ever since he'd left Rin and Shirou.

The pressure of the gathered energy pressed into him, causing pain behind his eyes, but he and pain were old friends. It was a pain he could handle.

Ghost Rider shook his head in disappointment. "You're willing to lock yourself in here? With me? You are endlessly foolish, Caster."

Harry gave him a wolfish smile. "I'm no normal Caster, Ghost Rider. I am the Winter Knight."

The fleshless skull somehow managed to give the impression of shock and realization. "Harry Dresden," he said. "Now I understand your crimes." He revved his motorcycle. "I will not let you have the Grail."

"Good," Harry answered. "I don't want it." He lifted his staff. "And you're not getting near Rin or the others. Not you, or your Master, or anyone who would lay a _finger_ on them."

Ghost Rider shot forward, his motorcycle roaring and leaving a trail of demonic hellfire in its wake. Chains shot out from Ghost Rider's arm and snaked through the air toward like snapping serpents.

Harry spun his staff around and levelled it like a rifle at the charging Rider. _"Arricious!"_ he called, infusing the spell with soulfire.

Soulfire wasn't much of a destructive force. It reinforced the reality of a spell to make it harder to defend against, and could overcome the hellfire defenses of Ghost Rider. But it truly became something special when used to create things.

Harry hadn't experimented with it much when he was alive, since it used his own lifeforce as fuel. But, being nothing but an extremely powerful spirit fueled by one of the most potent magical devices known in this world, meant he had far more soul to fuel the angelic power with than he'd ever had in his normal life.

He used his own memories to give shape to the spell, recalling the abilities he'd possessed as a ghost, and used the soulfire Uriel had given him to make that memory take shape, making the spell _more_ than it was before.

There was a truly LOUD roar as the powerful force spell took on the shape and power of the Southbound train that had nearly claimed him with his first death. The column of barreling speed and steel slammed into Ghost Rider and smashed him against the barrier of the circle he'd raised with his Noble Phantasm.

The circle prevented the spell from leaving its boundary and pinned Ghost Rider like it was an impenetrable wall. His motorcycle was reduced to simple scrap metal and Ghost Rider fell to his hands and knees a moment later as the spell ended.

 _"Infriga!"_ Harry shouted, drawing on the Winter inside him and pitched a spire of Winter ice at the Rider.

Ghost Rider's hands shot out, one in front him and spewing a jet of hellfire, the other onto the scattered remains of his motorcycle. The hellfire evaporated the spire of ice and continued toward Harry, while the parts of the bike quivered and then snapped toward Ghost Rider and beginning to cover his form.

Harry raised his left hand and brought up his shield in a wall of silver force. The hellfire assault slammed into the barrier and was stopped. Then he dropped the barrier and raised the Smith & Wesson 500 Karrin had given him and began to fire.

The rounds, meant to take down large game, didn't even bother the Rider. The lead simply melting with the heat of the hellfire suffusing his armored form.

Wait, his _armored_ form?

Harry's eyes went wide as he saw what Ghost Rider had done with the shattered remains of his motorcycle. The parts and pieces of the motorcycle had twisted and reshaped themselves to form an additional layer of protection. Additionally, several of the longer parts of the bike had shaped themselves into a sharp and wicked looking sword.

"Hell's bells," Harry complained. "That's not fair."

Ghost Rider charged at Harry, wielding the sword like he knew what he was doing. Dresden backed away, avoiding the swing of the Rider's frankenstein sword. Had he simply been a wizard, he would've died right there, but the Winter Knight's Mantle gave him better speed, strength, and power to face his foes.

Ghost Rider snapped an arm out, and a chain streaked from his body and wrapped around Harry's leg. Ghost Rider then heaved his body and threw the wizard through the air and into the barrier of the circle.

Pain pulsed through Harry, the spell layed duster doing little to mitigate the damage from the blunt impact.

 _"Infriga!"_ Harry said, and created a layer of ice over the forest ground. Steam rose from where Ghost Rider stood, but the Winter ice held strong against the heat.

Ghost Rider charged and attacked again, his footing less sure than it was before, and Harry blocked the strike with the wood of his staff and counter attacked. Murphy had taught him how to use his staff as a weapon with her Aikido training, and he made use of the knowledge she had passed to him.

Ghost Rider was the better fighter, there was no denying it, but the slick Winter ice made it harder for the demon to make use of that experience. The Winter Knight had no such limitations.

The quick exchange brought them back into the center of the clearing before the separated and Harry let loose with a blast from one of the kinetic force rings on his right hand. Rather than simply use one band, he activated all three on a single ring and blasted Ghost Rider into the wall of the barrier once again.

 _"Infriga Fozzare!"_ Harry called and unleashed a series of spikes made from Winter ice at the downed Rider.

Ghost Rider was up in an instant, but a couple of the spikes managed to slip past the armor he'd made and stab into his body. The demonic man howled in pain and pulled his short rifle and began to fire.

Harry raised an arm and ducked his head under his spell armored duster, the reinforced leather stopping the bullets from striking him.

Ghost Rider growled and drove his hands through the layer of ice and into the earth below. The ground began to rumble and the earth _itself_ started to shift and rise.

"Holy crap," Harry said and drew on his Noble Phantasm once again. _**"White Night!"**_ he shouted. _"Ramirez!"_

The spanish american Warden materialized with Harry's call, his grey cloak billowing out as if caught in a sudden breeze, and his eyes immediately went wide with alarm.

"For God's sake, Harry!" he shouted and backed away hurriedly. "What have you gotten me into now?!"

"Quit whining and help me kill this thing!" Harry shouted back. A large chunk of the earth and stone of the clearing had risen up and taken on the form of an enormous and heavily muscled humanoid. Hellfire burned in its eyes and it locked them onto Harry.

It should've paid attention to the ally he'd called. Green light flashed and splashed over the rock monster and maybe a third of its body simply disintegrated into dust. Hellfire infused chains shot through the air and toward Ramirez, who drew his silver willow sword from its sheath and sliced clean through the links of metal.

"Is that Ghost Rider?" he asked.

Harry didn't answer, focusing his attention on the spell he was preparing. It was going to take most of what he'd brought into the circle with him, but if he didn't use it, he was going to become paste.

 _"Gravitas!"_ he shouted and the power left him in a rush. The remains of the stone monster shattered as gravity left 90% of the massive circle and concentrated itself over the stone monster.

Harry felt his feet leave the ground for a moment before the spell finished and gravity resumed its normal hold on the forest clearing.

"Harry!" Ramirez warned. Hellfire chains wrapped themselves around his neck and body, pinning him in place. Harry cursed and managed to move enough to see the armor Ghost Rider had been using flying through the air toward the warden.

Ramirez called forth his own shield and the flying pieces of armor met the barrier of water and shattered into even tinier pieces. But the flying pieces of metal were more than just metal, they were metal parts fueled and controlled with hellfire. Nothing but absolute destruction would stop them, the water based shield worked better against projectiles moving at greater speed than the flying pieces of armor had. The metal parts tore into Ramirez, who cried out in pain and Harry dropped his summoning. Ramirez promptly faded away.

"A Noble Phantasm that lets you call upon the allies and forces you worked with while you were alive," Ghost Rider commented. "A very powerful ability. But likely a costly one as well."

Harry shrugged as much as he could with the bindings around him. The chains tightened and began to grow painfully hot as Ghost Rider walked into his sight. Ghost Rider's empty eye sockets met his eyes.

"Look into my eyes, Harry Dresden," Ghost Rider said. "See what you truly are."

Pain flooded through him as the hellfire fueled soulgaze began to tear through his mind, body, and soul.

The images and sensations that poured through him were pure confusion. The soulgaze and the penitence stare seeming to war with each other for control of his senses.

Harry saw a man, a fiery demon reflected in his shadow. Then he saw Justin Demourn, his first teacher, burning after their duel. He could feel the fire scorching his body as Justin died.

He saw a man making a deal, and saw him witness the consequences of a bargain made in ignorance. He felt Victor Sells fall to the bottom floor of his burning home, the scorpions he had created stinging him to death. He saw the man taking in a power and learning to master it before it continued to control him. He felt himself cut Lloyd Slate's throat.

The images and sensations piled on top of each other, creating a surreal and nightmarish picture in his mind.

He understood Ghost Rider. He was facing a man who had taken power, made a deal, to try and help someone he loved. That deal had turned on him and he had taken the nightmare that had become his existence and turned that back on the being who had betrayed the spirit of that deal. He was facing a man who was willing to kill and who would do anything to bring vengeance against the wicked.

He saw what he had done to any number of mortals, monsters, and nightmares that went bump in the night. He felt the fear he'd inflicted upon them, the pain he'd brought down on them, the suffering that he had caused.

Those experiences burned him… but not nearly as much as he deserved to burn.

Cold power flowed through him and Harry's right hand shot out despite the burning chains that held him and grabbed Ghost Rider around the neck with so much force that he could hear the Rider's spine cracking.

He kept their gazes locked, he kept the hellfire burning through him. He was a monster, a thing that deserved to burn for the suffering he'd caused. But everything he'd done, he'd done to try and help people. The people he'd been forced to kill, the monsters he'd scared and destroyed had all been to stop the funerals and the terror they'd brought to those who could not defend themselves.

He was going to die, he realized. The pain brought on by the Penitence Stare wouldn't kill him, but it would render him all but useless and unable to defend himself from whatever Ghost Rider did next. He kept his gaze locked onto Ghost Rider and prepared to throw his Death Curse.

There was a high, whistling sound and then there was a blinding flash of golden sunlight and something as bright and powerful as the sun shone down over them. Harry felt the circle he'd created shatter as something struck it from outside with monumental force.

Ghost Rider howled with agony and the flames and skeletal form around him melted into that of a normal man. The chains wrapped around Harry faded into smoke and the Stare suddenly ended. He was free to move. Dresden's grip tightened and he stared into the fearful human's eyes.

"There is nothing your stare could show me, Blaze," he growled. "That I haven't shown myself a thousand times worse. I'm a monster. But I'd do it all again if it meant keeping them alive and safe."

He adjusted his grip and snarled, "You will never touch them. You will **never hurt them!** _Infriga!"_

Twin spires of Winter ice grew from the ends of two of his fingers and speared out of the top of Ghost Rider's head.

The light went out of Ghost Rider's eyes as the sunlight faded away and night returned. The Rider slumped to the ground, his body fading away into errant points of light. Harry slumped to the ground beside him, his body in agony.

Footsteps approached and Link crouched down into Harry's field of vision.

"You lied to me," he said, simply. Harry nodded, too hurt to speak. "You didn't want me here to interfere," he continued. "You wanted me here in case you screwed up and died, so that Ghost Rider wouldn't escape and rejoin Illya and Berserker. I couldn't have entered that circle without finding something powerful enough to break it."

Harry shrugged, not apologizing. "I wasn't sure if he'd use the Stare or not, or if it could kill me if he did use it."

Link looked Harry critically. "Well, then I have some terrible news. You'll live. Rin's going to be pissed."

"I'd rather she be pissed at my state of survival rather than her getting mad at my death," Harry said and shuddered. He glanced at Link, "Nice save there, at the end, by the way."

Link shook his head. "That wasn't me. Only Zelda can give me arrows of light. Someone else must've gotten involved."

Dresden raised his eyebrows and glanced back where the sunlight had come from. "So," he said. "That's how it is."

The sky was starting to grow lighter, dawn was coming. Hopefully Shirou and Saber were ready for what was coming. He was going to be out of it for a while.

* * *

 **Author's note: And we have our first Secondary Servant casualty. Ghost Rider is no more. That makes two Servants down, twelve more to go. I got to have some Noble Phantasm fun this time. Ghost Rider's Phantasmal Conversion has some really scary potential, as I tried to show here.  
** **Oh, and I want to give a special shoutout to Warden Myst for the cover art he made for this story. This is the first story I've ever had cover art for and I'm really proud of that. Neither of us are artists but I like it.**

 **Zane: As I said, it's better to wait for this chapter before saying that. :)**

 **Raraiki: Yeah… Harry is** _ **not**_ **going to be thinking about that for a little while. At least until it becomes more fun to tease them over it.**

 **Reishin Amara: :D Soon… Very soon…**

 **SentinakSlice: You are correct, Shirou does not know. I can't wait for the UBW stuff either. I'm very much looking forward to that arc, because new stuff can start coming up and that's gonna really help with Shirou's character.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

 _To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise._ \- Hober Malo, Foundation

Shirou was kicked out of the ruined building. Rin had been forcefully insistent about it. Apparently, girls had to make adjustments afterward, to use Rin's description.

He leaned against the wall and grumbled to himself, largely making an excuse. Light began to shine as dawn approached. The forest that had seemed ominous during their flight lost some of its disturbing atmosphere as the sun slowly began to make its way in the unseen horizon.

Everything seemed so peaceful, peaceful enough for Shirou to nearly forget the Greek killing machine that was probably out looking for them even now. It also didn't seem like he and Saber had just…

Shirou rapidly shook his head. _Now is not the time to be thinking about that,_ he told himself sternly. He couldn't afford to get lost in remembered sensations. It would probably get him killed. That and it seemed impolite to Saber.

It was better to be… dispassionate about it. He'd done it to save Saber. That was all. Even if it had been amazing and-

 _Oh, who am I kidding?_ he thought. _I'm never going to forget that._ He'd just have to figure out how to set the memory aside for the moment. The priority was going to have to be Berserker and Ghost Rider.

Shirou's expression grew concerned. There hadn't been any word from Dresden or Link about what had happened. He hadn't felt anything last night. Well, he had felt plenty, but nothing that had seemed to indicate that Link was in any danger.

"Emiya! You can come back now! We're finished!" Rin called out. Shirou grabbed a heavy branch and made his way back inside. If they were going to go after Berserker and Ghost Rider, then they were going to need everything they could use. He just hoped he'd be able to look at Saber.

* * *

Much to Shirou's chagrin, he seemed to be the only one who seemed to be embarrassed at last night's activities. Saber's attitude wasn't any different than normal and Rin certainly wasn't suffering from embarrassment, which seemed unfair to Shirou considering _her_ role in the evening's events.

He fought not to blush at the memory.

"You two seem to be in good health," Rin spoke up. "We've got a battle to plan. And things are starting to look a little more in our favor."

"What do you mean: 'more in our favor?'" Saber asked.

"Harry went and killed Ghost Rider last night," Rin explained. "He just reported to me that Ghost Rider's gone, but he's too worn out to fight. Link will be able to give us support so long as we give him time to reach us. He's on his way back now."

"That's good," Shirou said.

"The bad news is that I can't feel any of my mana moving to Archer anymore. He must've gone and gotten himself killed last night." Rin's eyes flashed with something, but she started talking before anyone could ask about it. "Now, as far as battle plans go, this one is pretty simple," Rin said. "We're going to have to ambush them to win. Our attacks will have to be constant so that Berserker has no time to counter attack. And it's imperative that our final attack must be swift and successful."

"Yes, I agree," Saber said.

"So, in other words," Shirou said. "Get ahead of those two and jump them before they see us." He frowned as he spotted a flaw in the plan. "But do you really think Berserker's just going to let himself get ambushed? Illya's down one Servant now, so they're going to be suspicious of anything we'll use as bait."

"And Illya will likely be able to pick up on your and Saber's presence," Rin admitted. "Link can remain hidden so long as he's in his astral form, but he can't fight like that."

"What are you thinking?" Shirou asked suspiciously. "You don't honestly think you'll be able to ambush them on your own, do you?"

"Of course I can," she answered loftily. "You're the one they're really after, not me. And besides, I can mask my presence, have better than normal protection against physical attacks, and I have a couple of extra surprises if I have to use them."

Shirou wanted to argue. Archer had acted as a distraction and nearly died as a result. Harry had apparently taken out Ghost Rider, but was on the bench as a result. If the trend continued, Rin wouldn't get out of this fight without something going horribly wrong.

But… damnit, she had a point. Rin was the most experienced Master between the two of them, and had a reasonable chance of keeping at least Illya in check.

He eyed the duster she'd taken to wearing ever since their first fight with Berserker. Her normal jacket had been a long, cloth garment, but she'd swapped it out for the leather one that matched the style of Harry's duster. Plus, she was wearing a pair of elegant white gloves that she hadn't had until she'd come to help rescue him.

What other surprises could she have? He doubted she'd explain them to him, but the numerous and voluminous pockets of the duster could hold any number of secrets and surprises.

He hated the thought that Rin would have to get involved in the fight directly. Berserker had nearly cut him in half when he'd pulled Saber out of the way of his strike. What could Rin do about that, he had no idea.

 _"We have to do it this way, Shirou,"_ Link said in his head. Shirou grimaced and eventually nodded.

"Saber," Rin asked. "How much strength have you recovered?"

"Regular combat won't pose a problem," she answered.

"That's all we need. I want you and Shirou to do your best to keep Berserker's attention. We can use Link to blindside Berserker as well. I'll stay hidden and watch for an opening." Rin gave Shirou a look. "You'll have to come up with something to trick Illya."

"No problem," Shirou said. "I'll tell her you left us to go and get Harry and bail. She'll probably believe it too, considering how Ghost Rider's night went."

"There's still an issue we haven't dealt with," Saber said. "I'm fine with fighting Berserker, I have no problem with that. But I won't allow Shirou to fight him, he's no match for that thing."

"No one's asking him to do that," Rin replied. "Shirou will fall back when the fighting starts and act as your rear support."

"But, Shirou knows nothing of magecraft," Saber said.

"Wait," Shirou said. "I think I actually can help." He lifted the heavy branch from outside and focused. He flipped the switch with a mental click and the branch glowed with magical energy. It shifted and reshaped itself, forming into a tall, black bow. He was rather annoyed at the fact that the bow more resembled Archer's than it did one of the school's, but it would serve his purposes.

He held out the weapon. "Will this do?" he asked. "All I'll need to do is come up with some arrows the same way."

 _"I've got a better idea,"_ Link said as he materialized with them. He pulled a quiver of arrows from a bag at his side and held them out to Shirou. "High quality arrows," he said. "No explosive ones, though. I'd rather you not blow yourself up."

Rin was simply staring at Shirou in shock. "Good," she said after a moment. "That will work. Glad to see you aren't completely defenseless after all. I'll be up in the trees, watching things progress." She turned her gaze back to Saber. "I'll wait for you to create an opening, then I'll cut loose with my gems and destroy Berserker."

"Are your gems going to be enough?" Shirou asked.

Rin smiled. "Each of gems in my stash is a Rank A spell. They're more than powerful enough to break past Berserker's defenses. I'll use three of my ten special gems and that should get the job done."

"Should?" Link asked dubiously.

"Only three?" Shirou asked. "It sounds like you're being stingy."

"Hey!" Rin snapped. "These are powerful and expensive! Do you have any idea how long I've spent building up the charge in them?"

"So shouldn't we be sure?" Shirou asked. "If we want to kill Berserker, wouldn't half be more likely to do it?"

There was a tense moment of silence, then Saber said, her voice low: "I'm inclined to agree with Shirou. Half would seem better."

Rin gave them all an annoyed look. "Fine. I'll use half of them."

"What do I do while Saber's dancing with Berserker?" Link asked.

"Provide additional support," she said. "We want to make sure Illya doesn't try to cut and run."

"She won't," Link assured her. "Berserker nearly killed us last time even without Ghost Rider. She might be more suspicious if I'm not there."

"Fine, then," Rin said. "Let's do this." Rin left the room and Link joined her.

"Saber, do me a favor and promise me just one thing?" Shirou asked.

Saber stopped and turned. "And what would that be?"

"Whatever happens, I don't want you using your Noble Phantasm again. Even if it would help in defeating Berserker."

"I understand," she answered. "With my current mana levels the way they are, it may not work against Berserker anyway. And anyway, if I disappear then I won't be able to win the Holy Grail."

Shirou smiled. "Great, you're the same as always. I'm relieved that you're so sickenly calm."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Saber asked, her voice sharpening into a disturbingly similar tone as Rin's voice.

"Nothing," Shirou said nervously.

"Come on!" Rin shouted. "What are you two waiting for?"

"We'd better go," Shirou said. "Or she'll start yelling at us again."

Saber smiled. "Yes, Rin does seem to make past time out of reprimanding us two, doesn't she?"

"Watch where you're going, okay?" he said, grabbing Saber's hand. "There's stuff scattered all over here." Then he noticed how stiff Saber's arm felt. "What's wrong, Saber? What's going on?"

Saber pointedly refused to look at him, her expression red with embarrassment. "Nothing," she said quietly. "No, it's not that… but if you're holding my hand, I…" She stopped talking and gently, but firmly, removed her hand form Shirou's.

She continued to look away from him and Shirou felt his cheeks color as he remembered how Saber had looked earlier.

Shirou turned his gaze away from Saber. Now was _definitely_ not the time to be thinking about it.

* * *

"No, this area won't do," Rin said as they entered a large clearing. "It's serviceable, but far too open to really work."

"It strikes me that you're being quite the perfectionist," Link commented. "Are we ever going to find the best spot?"

"We still have time," Rin answered. "If we have the luxury to choose our battleground I'm going to find something that can do what we need well. Now come on, we don't have time to stand around and argue."

Rin reentered the forest, but neither Saber or Link moved. Both glanced to the other side of the clearing with carefully neutral expressions.

"What are you doing?" Rin asked. "If we don't move-"

"I found you," came a girl's voice. It wasn't close, but echoed through the trees like they were in a cave. "Hold on. I'll be there to kill you soon."

"I don't we have time to be choosy anymore, Rin," Link said. The triangles on the back of Link's hand blazed into warning light. "They're coming fast."

Surprising calm came down on Shirou as Link and Saber readied themselves to fight. "This place will be fine, Tohsaka. We're lucky enough to have space where we can all get involved."

"Idiot, I'm telling you we have to move. Yes, we have space, but you're going to be in range no matter where the fight is."

"I know you're worried, but we're all in danger now. And we're stuck now anyway. We don't have the time to run and prepare somewhere else."

"But…" Rin said, then hesitated. She glanced at Link and Saber then let out a breath. "Geez. Fine. I'm going to be pissed if you die too easily." Then she ran into the trees and was out of sight.

Illya was in the clearing barely 30 seconds later.

"I'm surprised," she said. "I expected you to keep running right until the very end." Her red eyes passed over all three of them, and Shirou had to fight the urge to look over his shoulder and check where Rin was. "So, it looks like Saber has recovered her strength and the green one has joined up with you again."

Illya's tone darkened for a moment. "You killed my Rider. So I'm going to have a lot of fun paying you back for that. It's cute that you think your Servants can actually beat me, but the bad news is that you're all going to die."

The Einzbern paused, as if she'd just realized something. "Wait, where's Rin and her Servants?"

"She's gone," Shirou answered. "She took off a while ago. I imagine she went to find Harry so that they could meet up with Archer and get out of here while they still could. They're probably out of the forest by now."

"I don't know about that," Illya replied. "This forest is an Einzbern barrier," she explained. "If Rin and her insects had left, I would've known about it. Guess I'll just have to kill her later. On the other hand, Shirou, if you were to beg me, I might reconsider and let you live."

"Hey, Illya," Shirou said. "I don't suppose there's any way I can talk you out of this fight, is there?"

"Not a chance. I've got to follow my grandfather's orders. As long as I have Berserker at my side, the that means I'm the Einzbern Master. And that means I have to kill the other Masters and bring home the Holy Grail."

"Yeah, well I'm the Master of the sabers," Shirou said. "And if you refuse to back down, then I'll just have to defeat Berserker and make you."

"Well, then I guess you're going to have to die." Red light shone from Illya's entire body, revealing lines and patterns of arcane power.

"That's her Seal," Saber said, revealing what Shirou had been dreading.

"Playtime is over," Illya said, and Berserker let out a leonine roar.

"What the hell?" Shirou asked, as he felt an increase in the sheer presence of Berserker. "He's stronger now."

"Go on, Berserker! Have fun! Kill them all!" Illya declared.

Berserker leapt into the air straight toward them. Saber let out a battle cry of her own and moved to intercept the attack. The swords clashed and the legendary warriors began to exchange blows at a rapid pace.

After a moment, Berserker knocked Saber back several feet and she went down on one knee to help maintain her balance. Berserker charged forward and Link moved.

He shot forward and used Saber's crouched form as a stepping stone to leap into the air. He spun in the air and slashed his sword straight into Berserker's face.

The brute gracefully evaded the strike, but Shirou caught sight of a chunk of hair missing from Hercules' head. Link landed and immediately spun to strike at Berserker's back.

Berserker rotated and intercepted the strike with his slab-like sword. Saber waited until Berserker's gaze was away before she surged forward and attacked Berserker's exposed back. Berserker moved away and then charged forward once both sabers were in his line of sight, swinging his massive sword in a sideswipe that could strike both Servants.

Link and Saber moved in unison, using their swords to block the blow together and holding fast against the raw power of the Greek legend.

Shirou drew one of the arrows Link and given him and knocked it to the string. He drew and waited for a moment where he'd have a clear shot. He spotted his moment and released the arrow, the shaft of wood streaking through the air and between his Servants to strike just to the side of one of Berserker's eyes. The arrow bounced off of Berserker's skin as if it was a plate steel wall. The brute shifted his gaze to Shirou and the wave of lethal intent that struck him felt almost like a physical blow.

"Berserker," Illya said. "Just ignore him. He'll be easy pickings once his Servants are gone."

Berserker roared and slammed his sword into the ground, forcing Link and Saber to back away from the destruction and debris. Then he charged Saber and forced her to act defensively.

Link's own bow appeared and he released several shafts with explosive tips into Berserker's back. Berserker barely seemed to notice.

 _No matter how hard I try, I still end up being useless,_ Shirou thought. _I can't help Saber. I'd just get in the way against this guy. There's nothing. Nothing that I can do to help._

Shirou closed his eyes in frustration. He needed something. Something to tip the odds, a weapon or a trick he could exploit to finish this fight.

He needed to visualize something, find something within himself he could use. Archer had said the one image he needed to overcome was his own perceived limits.

There was an impact and Saber let out a shout of pain. Shirou's eyes snapped open and he saw Saber get knocked through the air and land hard on the ground.

Link shot forward at an unnatural speed and Berserker swung his sword into the ground, sending debris and a shockwave straight into Link. The hylian was sent flying through the air and into a nearby tree. He groaned and struggled to get to his feet.

 _This bow isn't going to be enough,_ Shirou realized. _I need a sword. A sword strong enough that it can beat that bastard._ A blurry image came to Shirou's mind. A beautiful, golden weapon.

Berserker roared and slammed his own sword into Saber, shattering her armor and sending her flying through the air. She looked surprised for the briefest of moments before her eyes regained their resolve and she landed and immediately counter-attack.

Their blades locked and Saber put all of her strength into her push, and managed to knock Berserker's hulking form back several feet.

"Saber!" Rin shouted. "Out of the way!"

Rin shot out from her position in the trees, her leather duster billowing as she flew through the air. Light pulsed from her clenched hand as Rin began to incant. German words flowed from her and she pitched the collection of gems straight into Berserker in a baseball pitch that any sports fan would've envied.

Berserker's superhuman reflexes helped him spot and intercept many of the gems from their flight path, but several made their mark and thick ice began to coat and restrain Berserker's form.

Berserker growled and shot his other hand out and grabbed Rin out of the air. Rin's eyes widened in a moment of surprise, then she smirked.

"I had a feeling this was going to happen," she admitted. Then hurled a collection of five brightly glowing gems straight into Berserker's face with a shouted: "Gotcha!" This second set blazed with a greater radiance as she threw them at her target.

There was an explosion at Berserker's face and everything seemed to stop for a single crystalline moment. Then Berserker fell backwards, his body unmoving, and slammed into the ground. No one moved for another moment, then Shirou spoke up.

"So, did that kill him?" he asked.

Rin gasped in surprise as she stared into the smoking cloud where Berserker's head was. "No way," she said. "That's impossible. Those gems should've blown his head clean off."

"I guess I have to change my opinion of you, Rin," Illya commented. "I can't believe you actually managed to take one of Berserker's lives. But the bad news for you is that you won't kill him for good unless you kill him twelve times.

"Twelve times?" Rin asked. She grabbed Berserker's meaty hand and tried to pry his grip loose enough for her to slip out. But even in the throes of regeneration, his grip was strong.

"I'm sure you know the legend, Rin. The hero Hercules had to overcome the twelve labors in order to atone for his sins. And the reward he received in return was a form of immortality."

"A stockpile of lives," Rin finished. "Multiple layers of resurrection."

"That's why killing him is going to pose a bit of a problem for you. It's a curse of immortality that forces him to live through the deaths he avoided in life. It's called the _**God Hand**_. It's Berserker's Noble Phantasm. That attack you landed on him did take one of his lives, but he still has seven to go."

"Oh come on," Link complained. "Even I'm not that unfair, and I reincarnate on a regular basis."

"Rin, get out of there!" Saber shouted just as Shirou shouted: "Tohsaka!"

"Berserker, turn her into mush!" Illya ordered.

* * *

 **Author's note: Things are starting to look interesting and there's definitely things to start looking out for.**

 **Naruto Sakura Uzumaki: Interesting thought. I would ask you, though, if she was supposed to be Bazett's Servant, why is she serving our dear Cowboy? I'm really curious to see what you come up with and if you can parse out the truth of the situation.**

 **Starbug2018: Thank you so much for your interest in this story despite the Dresdenverse spoilers. I'm happy I was able to answer your question and hope you enjoy this story even more as you progress through the Files. Lots of things are going to fall into place as you continue, I promise you that. :)**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	42. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

 _We don't know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome._ \- Isabel Allende

Berserker began to squeeze and Shirou thought he could already hear bones beginning to crack. A being as ancient and powerful as Hercules, a hero with a considerable amount of divine strength, wouldn't take long in crushing Rin.

He realized with horror that he wasn't fast enough. No matter what he did, even if he managed to kill Berserker, it would leave Rin dead at the end.

Shirou felt a surge of power leave his body and Link suddenly began to shine with blue light.

He raised one arm and a metal device appeared on his arm. Shirou recognized it from their fight against Rider during the Bloodfort. The claw on one end shot out and in an eyeblink was gripped around Rin.

There was a clinking sound as Link was pulled straight toward Rin and he reached out with his other hand.

Berserker looked at Link in apparent confusion and stopped increasing his squeeze for a single precious second.

"Saber!" Link shouted. "Kill him! _**Nayru's Love!**_ "

Link's hand lightly touched against Rin and blue light burst forth from Link's body, crystallizing into a solid barrier that surrounded both mage and Servant. Berserker's hand was pried apart by that barrier and the two of them dropped to the ground.

"What?" Illya exclaimed and Berserker roared. The brute swung his frozen arm and sword down toward the prone figures, and with a bright blue flash of power, Hercules was knocked away from the barrier and almost sent off of his feet.

Link let out a grunt of effort and the barrier flickered for a moment, but then it resolidified and stayed firm. Saber let out a cry and charged Berserker before he could attack the shield once again.

Shirou stared at the barrier in amazement. That shield had stopped Berserker's strike cold. No, it had _rebuffed_ the strike, forcing the power of the strike back upon the user. That was simply amazing. What had the power to stop something as strong as Hercules himself?

He could make out Rin and Link's forms inside the gem-like shield. Link was on top of Rin, shielding her with his body as well as the barrier. Link's face was slick with sweat and he appeared to be fighting to stay conscious. But that meant…

Shirou's eyes widened. The shield would only last as long as he was awake. They needed to kill Berserker now, or it would go to waste.

Saber let out a battle cry and charged Berserker. Her sword struck the Servant's body and, once again, only seemed to inflict superficial damage. Berserker roared and knocked Saber away before turning his attention back to Link's barrier and delivered another mighty blow.

The shield flashed with blue light once again, and Link cry of effort was much harsher this time. The blue light flickered and wavered, before solidifying once again. Shirou felt a tug within himself as the barrier returned to its solid state and he realized what was going on.

Link was able to sustain the barrier, but whenever Berserker struck the field, Link was forced to pull energy from Shirou to help restore it.

The implication that Shirou's mana reserves and magic circuits were even _capable_ of maintaining something as powerful as that barrier would have been far more staggering if his protective instinct hadn't already taken full control of his body.

Without any conscious thought, Shirou drew the string of his bow again. He released the metal shaft that was knocked to the string and the arrow struck Berserker next to his eye before Shirou realized that he hadn't used one of the arrows Link had given him.

The arrow deflected off of Berserker's body as the previous one had, but Shirou thought he might've seen a tiny mark where the weapon had struck.

Berserker slammed his frozen sword into the ground and the shockwave of the impact sent Shirou flying backward and into a tree.

"Shirou!" Saber shouted as he fell prone. He coughed and managed to draw in a breath before rising to his feet.

"Leave them alone," he growled and started to move toward Berserker.

"Don't be foolish," Saber said. "You've done enough. Stay back, Master."

"I said: 'Leave them alone,'" he repeated, making his way closer to Berserker.

There was a sudden rush of air, and Shirou turned to see Saber in a familiar stance, wind circling around her weapon.

"Saber, no!" Shirou shouted, recognizing the activation of her Noble Phantasm. He felt a flash of panic that was far greater than he'd ever felt before. He'd told her not to use her Noble Phantasm. There was no point in saving her earlier if she was just going to kill herself now trying to save him.

He didn't want her to die. He didn't want to _lose her._ He could make out her face through the swirling air. Her eyes were closed in concentration, and in effort. Simply trying to activate her Phantasm was costing her something, and giving her pain.

"Damn it! I told you to stop!" he shouted. Red light flashed from his left hand as the Command Seal activated to impose his will on his Servant.

The rushing air immediately died down and Saber slumped down to one knee. She lifted her head and fixed her jade green eyes on his.

 _This is the only way,_ her gaze seemed to say. "Why did you do that?" she asked, voicing the thought aloud.

Shirou ground his teeth in frustration. He knew why he'd done it, but he couldn't say it.

Saber seemed to sense his hesitation. "Listen," she pleaded. "I have to do this. It's our only option!"

 _She's already so much weaker just from summoning her sword,_ he thought. He could see the new strain on her body. The quivering tension in her muscles that belied any declaration of strength. _There's no way she can use it. Not in the shape she's in._

He turned to face Berserker and examined the situation, and eerie calm falling over him. He was facing an impossible foe. A hero so old and powerful that nothing appeared able to inflict any sort of real injury.

So, he'd just have to make up something that _could_ inflict a real injury. He focused his mind, seeking the switch Rin and Harry had helped show him. Trying to picture, to visualize, a weapon that he could use to destroy the monster attacking those he wanted to protect.

Magic was a dangerous art. The number of ways a mage could end up accidentally killing himself was impressively large, especially someone as inexperienced as Shirou. Learning to harness magic was like trying to handle a cocked and loaded gun.

So he pictured the monster revolver that Harry liked to use and pulled back the hammer of that deadly and dangerous weapon in his mind.

Mana surged through Shirou and he closed his eyes, thinking of the sword that had appeared in his dreams. The elegant, golden weapon that had haunted his sleeping moments.

There was a rumble and he felt Berserker leap into the air. The rush of air as the greek legend left the earth to deliver a fatal blow. He didn't know who the target was, and he didn't need to to visualize what he had to do.

The sword was a blur within his mind, and stayed that way until he added Saber into his mental landscape. As her armored form appeared in his imagination, the sword gained clarity, revealing the critical details that he needed to understand to call the weapon to his aid.

"Trace on," he said. He blocked out absolutely everything around him, focusing on the image in his mind. He ignored Berserker, Rin and Link, Illya, and Saber. He ignored his environment and even his own body. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing any more. All he focused on was the sword.

 _Basic structure: Visualized._

 _Component materials: Identical._

 _Accumulated age: Replicated._

 _Craftsmanship: Exceeded._

The process seemed to take forever, but he knew it had happened in less than a second. It was natural to him, part of him. He was the core, the bone, of the sword.

The mana coursing through him seemed to sing and chime like the bell he'd heard as someone had saved his life back when this all began.

He pulled the trigger of the switch, the gun of his mind, and the sword came to life. Coming into existence with a flash of silver light.

Sensation returned to him in a rush and he knew exactly where Berserker's strike was coming.

His arms moved in a familiar, practiced motion and his sword met the swinging stone sword of Hercules and the blades crashed together.

Shirou's motion might have been practiced and familiar, but he realized the instant the weapons met that his stance was completely wrong to properly stop the strike.

He only held back Berserker's attack for a moment before he was knocked off of his feet and sent sprawling across the ground.

"Shirou!" Saber shouted.

"What are you thinking?" Illya called out. "You're no match for Berserker."

Shirou climbed to his feet, using the sword as a crutch to help him rise. He _knew_ he'd created a sword more powerful than Berserker. He understood that knowledge down to the core of his being. The weapon was very nearly alive in his hands. Power radiated from that ancient blade as he readied to use it once again.

He'd created it, so he had to be able to wield it.

Berserker attacked again, recognizing Shirou as a threat and capitalizing on his vulnerable position. He swung his stone sword and there was another crash as Saber intercepted the strike with own invisible weapon. Then she backed toward Shirou and came next to him.

"Give me your hand," she said as she grabbed the hilt of the weapon he'd made. She met his gaze and he saw the determination in those eyes. Something passed between them and they turned their gaze in unison toward Berserker.

Golden light began to emanate from the blade held in their hands as Berserker swung his weapon at them again with a roar. Saber and Shirou roared their own battle cry of defiance and thrust the sword forward together, their bodies moving in perfect sync with each other.

The point of their sword met Berserker's blade and the slab of frozen stone shattered as the golden weapon continued on its path and drove itself deep into Berserker's chest.

The light went out of Berserker's eyes and light shone from the point of impact, making Berserker's body appear to grey into solid stone. Everything slowed to a crawl and seemed to draw in its breath for whatever would follow.

Saber and Shirou slowly, almost with reverence, withdrew the sword from Berserker's form. Sunlight shone off of the flawless and clean steel of the weapon.

"So, Saber," a rough voice said. "That is your sword."

"Yes," Saber answered, calmly. "This is _**Caliburn**_ : the sword in the stone that chooses kings. Lost for all eternity."

"But it's nothing more than an illusion created by that man standing next to you," the voice replied, sounding baffled. "A legendary sword that will never exist again. I'm impressed. Even the illusion is formidable. I never would have thought that a single blow from _that_ blade could defeat me seven times."

Sparks of light glistened from Berserker's final wound and flowed over his body, the now stone-like flesh disappearing into more sparks of light that faded away into nothing.

There was a shaking gasp from Illya and a sigh of relief from Link as the blue light of the barrier shimmered out of existence and he slumped into unconsciousness on top of Rin.

"How?" Illya asked, her voice quiet and sad. "How can Berserker… possibly be dead too?"

Saber's gaze turned to Illya and her hands clenched. Shirou reacted without thought, fearing the worst.

"Hold on, Saber," he said. "Illya's not a threat anymore, okay?" Illya slumped to the ground, her expression that of a lost child. She reached out as if to grab some of the glistening sparks of Berserker's vanishing form, but only managed to weakly grab at empty air. "With Berserker and Ghost Rider gone, she won't be a problem."

"I know, Shirou," Saber said, almost so quietly that he couldn't hear. She made as if to step closer to Illya, then seemed to think better of it.

"Could someone please get this guy off of me?" Rin asked from under Link.

Shirou started and then made his way over to Rin. Then the world twisted sideways and he felt himself meet the ground with a heavy thump.

His strength seemed to bleed into the ground and he suddenly felt like falling asleep again was a great idea.

He was out before he even realized he was passing out.

* * *

Shirou woke up somewhere soft and familiar. He stared at the ceiling of his room and tried to order his thoughts. The last thing he remembered was…

"I see that you are awake, Shirou." He turned to see Saber sitting beside his futon, watching him with a curiously neutral expression.

"Uh, yeah," he answered.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, turning away from him. "Are you well?"

"What's wrong, Saber? What's that long look on your face about?"

"Nothing," she answered quickly. "I've just been… thinking about some things."

"What about?"

"You've been asleep for a few hours," Saber said, evading the question. "Rin and the others will want to know you're alright." Saber rose to her feet and moved toward the door as Shirou sat up.

"Saber, what's wrong?"

She stopped. "I've been… thinking about some choices that were made. And their consequences." Then she left.

"What did that mean?" he asked the empty room. When he didn't receive an answer, he got up and made his way to the living room. He stopped when he heard the music. Clear, soft notes drifted into the house from the courtyard outside.

Curiosity took control and Shirou changed directions and made his way out onto the porch.

Link sat, lotus style, out in the yard with his eyes closed and playing a small blue instrument he held in his hands. His eyes were closed and he moved subtly with the music as he played.

Memories flowed over Shirou as he watched his Servant play the odd instrument. Memories of early days with Kiritsugu. Discussions with the old man, walks during cool nights. How Taiga acted like an annoying sister to him and would beat him up during kendo training. The look of joy on his father's face as he saved Shirou's life from the fire. Even that dark day felt pale in comparison to the sleepy comfort of the song Link played.

It was only then that Shirou realized that he was tired. Strength slowly slipped away from him as the song seemed to wrap him in soothing warmth and pleasant dreams. The pains of his body and the scars of his mind became pale memories against the gentle tide of the music, a lullaby for the body and the soul.

He couldn't sense any real power in the song, but something about the flow of the music was soothing enough to quiet even the haunting memory of ten years ago.

Shirou found himself smiling as Link's song slowed, and then stopped. Link opened his eyes and started slightly as he finally noticed Shirou standing there.

"Oh," he said. "You're, uh, awake."

"Yeah, I woke up a few minutes ago," Shirou answered. "What was that you were playing?"

For a split second, Link almost looked embarrassed. "A lullaby that a close friend taught me." He held up the small instrument he'd been using. "It's meant to be played on an ocarina." Link's eyes went distant, as if he was looking at something only he could see. "That was when it began."

"What?"

"The confusing part of my never ending journey. I stopped darkness, Demise, and in doing so was cursed into a cycle. Whenever darkness would rise, I would come to challenge it." He lifted his left hand and showed Shirou the trio of triangles that adorned the back of his hand. "It was in one of my lifetimes when Ganondorf tried to take the Triforce for himself. His lust for power only let him gain one piece, sending the other two to Zelda and myself. And thus, the three of us were bound together. That was the incarnation that got this," he lifted the ocarina. "Which helped access the Temple of Time and allowed me to move in time. And my incarnations came to each of those timelines to combat darkness over and over again. I wasn't kidding when I said I've done everything at one point or another."

Shirou's head began to hurt just thinking about the sheer scope of what Link was saying. "Is that even possible?" he asked.

Link shrugged. "You'd have to ask Rin. She's the magic expert, not me." He looked at the ocarina again. "This let me expand my legend." He looked to the mark on his hand. "And this lets me remember those lifetimes here and make use of those experiences." He gave a wicked smile. "And sometimes maybe a bit more than just the experiences."

A light went off in Shirou's head. "That's how you were able to stop Berserker? You… what, remembered a power?"

"Something like that," Link answered. "A blessing from something nearly divine. To be honest, I'm surprised I was even able to pull it off. I'm not sure if I could've even used it without your desire to save Rin." He stood up. "We should meet with Rin and the others. We're going to have to figure out what to do next."

* * *

They found Rin, Saber, and Harry all sitting around the table drinking tea. Well, Harry wasn't drinking tea, instead taking swigs from a sweating brown bottle Shirou recognized from Copenhagen.

"Well, look who it is," Harry said as Shirou entered the room. "The man too dumb to die."

Rin snorted. "It takes one to know one, Dresden." Harry let out a short laugh and took another drink.

Shirou joined the group, noticing cups had already been set out for himself and Link. Saber pointedly didn't look at Shirou as he and the other saber sat down with the others. Rin gave Shirou an annoyed look.

"You are just a magnet for problems and complications, aren't you, Emiya?"

"What'd I do?" Shirou asked.

"You left an enemy Master alive," Rin answered. "You realize that she's a risk, right?"

"How so? It's not like she's a Master anymore."

"That's where you're wrong," Rin said, exasperated. "As long as she has Command Seals she's still a Master. If she finds a Servant who's lost their Master she can recontract with them and continue to fight. Considering the number of Servants running around, the odds of that happening are much higher than they should be."

"Where is Illya anyway?" Shirou asked.

"We're keeping her in one the spare rooms for now," Harry answered. "Since you're basically running a hotel at this point, we figured it'd be the best place to keep her until you woke up. She and two servants from the house who _refused_ to leave her alone are staying in there until we come up with something to do."

"If you're so worried about her recontracting with a Servant," Shirou said. "Then why keep her here until I woke up?"

"Because Pyrrha's watching them," Harry said. "I'm fairly certain they couldn't take her in a fair fight, considering how thoroughly she was beating up second Assassin. Plus they're stuck in an empowered circle, so even if they _wanted_ to fight, they'd have to try and break that down first."

"Paranoid much?" Link asked.

"It's a survival trait in my job," Harry replied.

"What do you think, Saber?" Shirou asked.

Saber didn't speak for a long time. "Illyasviel won't pose a threat," she finally said. "I don't think she'll be interested in taking another Servant."

"You sound pretty sure about that," Rin commented. Saber didn't answer. Link and Harry gave each other a look and a shrug. "Well, in any event we probably won't have to worry about the Grail War for much longer," she continued.

"Yeah," Harry said, sarcasm in his tone. "There's only…" he pretended to do intense mental calculation. "Seven other Servants the three of us have to deal with. Then we're going to have to figure the three of us out. Piece of cake."

Rin rolled her eyes and turned to Shirou. "All things considered, I want to keep working with you until we get a few more things settled. Are you willing to extend our alliance?"

"Of course," Shirou answered. Then blinked. "Wait, what? What happened to all insistence that this was temporary?"

Rin turned bright red and refused to look at Shirou.

"It's only fair, Shirou," Harry said. "You've saved her life a couple of times. That's not the kind of debt you can just brush under the rug."

"Moving back to what I was saying," Rin said. "The only thing we have to worry about now is your average, garden variety, epic heroes. That's nothing compared to the power of King Arthur himself."

* * *

 **Author's note: Hey, Naruto! Remember when you were asking about why Link used the weapons he did and I said that how he worked as a Servant could have interesting results? This is what I was talking about. If he's willing to put out a** _ **huge**_ **mana cost, Link can pull more than just extra weapons from his other incarnations, such as Noble Phantasms.  
** **I don't remember if I've said this before or not, but Secondary Servants are freaking terrifying. And this is a great example as to why.**

 **Also, side point I don't mind bringing up: Something that was bugging me about Berserker trying to kill Rin is how slow he is at the job. I mean the guy is built like a battle tank and is a killing machine when in his Berserker form. There's no way he would take his time in killing a hostage like Rin unless he was ordered to (I checked, he isn't ordered to). So I decided to address that issue while I was writing this as well.**

 **Zane: I guess someone's a big fan of our murder-loli. Sorry, buddy. She's unfortunately out of Servants now.**

 **Naruto: I like that. I like that a lot, and I can definitely see why you'd think that. You are, however, off the mark. You might want to double check how the Secondary Servants are summoned.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

" _I've been a lot of people, Ladrian. Seen through a lot of eyes. There's always another perspective, if you look hard enough."_ \- MeLaan, Bands of Mourning

Shirou went completely still and stared at Rin. Oddly, Harry was also staring at Rin with a look of amazement on his face. Link glanced between them all, completely confused.

"You know Saber's true identity?" Shirou blurted. "When'd you figure it out?"

"Well," Rin said. "I had my suspicions, but I wasn't certain until earlier today. After all, there's only one hero who can wield a sword of that caliber."

Harry not so gently slammed his head into the table and then repeated the motion several times. "Dammit," he growled. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit." He punctuated each mutter with a head slam. Everyone simply stared at Harry as he bent his head up to the ceiling and said: "Someone's having a huge laugh at me right now."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Rin asked.

The wizard shook his head. "It would take way too long to explain," he said. Rin gave him a look and he rolled his eyes. "Let's just say that I really shouldn't be surprised and move on."

"Leaving Harry's antics aside for the moment," Link said. "Who's King Arthur and what does it have to do with winning this war?" Everyone, except Harry, gave Link a look. The saber gave them an annoyed look and jabbed a finger at one of his pointed ears. "Hello, Hero of Hyrule here. Kind of not from around here."

"'Whosoever pulleth this sword from the stone shall be the rightful king of all Britain,'" Harry recited. "Quote those words to just about anyone passing on the street and ask them where they come from and just about everyone will tell you: King Arthur. It's one of the most known legends around. Probably the only other pieces of mythology as well known as the tale of King Arthur and his knights are the epics of a few Greek heroes, and Shirou and Saber ran one of them through earlier today." He eyed Saber. "Though the story seems to have missed a detail or two in the retelling."

Saber met Harry's look with a steady expression. "Are you looking to add something, Dresden? Maybe anger at the choices I made when I was alive?" Shirou and Rin both gave each other a look at the undertone in Saber's words. She wasn't just a Servant in that moment, but a king awaiting an answer to his query from an upstart. Her sheer presence was immense in that moment.

Harry snorted, not reacting in the slightest. "I'm the last person to make judgement calls on your choices, Saber. I came into my power when I was younger than you. I'm fairly certain I've made more mistakes with it than you too. Plus, I've been saved by Murphy way too many times to underestimate you just because you're a girl."

Saber raised an eyebrow and flashed the wizard a tiny smile as he leaned back and took a sip from his bottle.

"Speaking of missing some details," Rin said and turned her gaze on Shirou. Her voice remained calm, but gained an edge to it that said she was holding back anger. "We need to have a talk, Emiya. What did you do back there? You lied to me, that was more than simple reinforcement magic."

Shirou gave Rin a half-hearted shrug, uncomfortably aware of how intensely Rin was watching him. "Well, yeah, it was," he admitted sheepishly. "I used to do projection magic."

One of Rin's eyes twitched. "You didn't even have a switch all that long ago," she said. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you could do something more complex? So that wasn't your first time using projection magic?"

"No, not really. But the most I'd ever been able to do was just mimic, there was no substance to anything I'd managed to make. But I wasn't all that successful back then either. Kiritsugu said it was basically useless and that I should focus on reinforcement."

"He was right. I probably would've said the same thing."

Harry looked thoughtful. "Do you fail at one practice more than the other?"

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked.

"Everyone has innate talents, magic included. Maybe you just have an affinity for projection rather than reinforcement. I have an affinity for working with manipulating magical forces. Sending power out, redirecting energy, finding energies that resonate with each other, blowing stuff up, things like that." He pointed at Shirou's hands. "Maybe you've got a knack for making things. Next time you're practicing your magic, we'll do some experiments."

"I admit I'm not a mage," Link said. "But I have a question. You've never done magic that intense before, have you, Shirou?"

Shirou shook his head. "No, so?"

"So you just create something as potent as a Noble Phantasm and just walk away without any sort of backlash?" There was a shimmer around his hands and a massive iron ball and chain appeared in his arms. "Because if that's true, then I want you to hold this for me." And he heaved the mass of metal to Shirou.

Shirou let out a shout as the iron ball slammed into him and knocked him over. Saber shot to her feet and made her way over to Shirou, but Link stopped her with a gesture.

"No, Saber," he said, his face oddly intense. "Get up, Shirou."

Shirou struggled for a moment, letting out several grunts of effort before managing to heave the iron ball off of himself and stand up.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"How's your body feel?" Link asked.

"It hurts. You threw a giant iron ball at me, how else is it supposed to feel?"

"Right," Link said. "Your muscles are burning from the unexpected effort and your breathing is more ragged. That's what happens to your body with sudden and unexpected effort. You're telling me you're not feeling anything at all from that magical stunt earlier today?"

"No," Shirou insisted. "I feel fine. A little sore from the fighting, but that's it."

Link locked his eyes with Shirou, and Shirou returned the gaze without wavering. Saber's own eyes flicked between the two, waiting for some sort of reaction. All three of them missed the look Harry gave Rin, and the wizard tapping his chest where his pentacle lay hidden under his shirt.

Rin's own eyes went wide with realization and the two of them exchanged a nod just as Link tilted his head and said: "Okay then." The Hylian relaxed and the weapon he'd summoned disappeared. "I guess you're just an odd one, Shirou."

"He is the impossible Master," Harry agreed. "I suppose our next target should be Caster. She's been gathering power while we've been out killing her biggest competitor."

"She'll probably make her move soon," Rin agreed. "We need to find out who her Master is. With two Assassins guarding the temple, the odds of us getting in are slim at best."

"That's assuming she doesn't just have her Master tucked away in some dark basement where he or she can't be found," Harry said. "It's the practical approach for someone with an obvious weak spot."

"I don't think she'd be that forceful," Rin said. "She likely has simply turned her Master into a puppet. Especially if they're someone who might be noticed if they went missing."

"So how can we even find her Master?" Shirou asked.

"Old fashioned detective work," Harry said. "We're just going to have to look for clues." He stood up. "I guess that means I have work to do."

* * *

The sun had set and there was snow was falling when Shirou spotted Rin and Harry standing outside. Rin turned to face him as he reached the doorway.

"I like your bounded field," she said and looked up into the sky again. "You can really sense the human emotion in this one, unlike the one at my house." She made her way to the open doorway and sat down.

Shirou sat down next to her and they shared a companionable silence for a time.

"I think this house is quite unique," Rin said. "And it struck me that perhaps it's better if you just stay the way you are now."

"You mean staying a hopeless amatuer?" Shirou asked.

"I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but you're not too far off either. I don't know myself what Kiritsugu Emiya was like as a mage, but the energy here is incredibly natural. For a mage's workshop, it's very open. As if one were free to come and go as they pleased."

"A threshold," Harry said suddenly. "It feels like a threshold over a home. Memory, and life, and family all coalescing into a barrier to keep away the unwanted terrors without stopping people from coming and making this a place to rest." Then he wandered off, giving Rin and Shirou some privacy.

"It's not like that at your house?" Shirou asked.

"Not even close," Rin answered. "It's good at keeping people out, but really once your in it doesn't let you leave." Rin turned her gaze downward. "It's wrong, but it's not like something I can change. It's just the way things are. Personally, I've come to enjoy the way that it is now. I suppose I was chosen because of this strong personality of mine."

"How has it been? Was it hard for you?"

"Mage training, you mean? I hate to break it to you, but I never found it difficult at all. Besides, I always enjoyed the chance to learn something new. So, you see, I was born this way and I've always been like this. So don't worry, you can save your concern for someone who really needs."

Shirou gave her a small smile at that. "So why're you at school? If you're going to live the life of a mage, then why even bother?"

"It may be a detour, but it's not useless. Being a student is fun. Deep down, I really guess I'm just a hedonist at heart. Sure, I'm duty bound to succeed my father, but I don't think I could do it if I didn't actually enjoy it. That's one of the reasons why I like our partnership. You're pretty interesting, Emiya." Rin lightly kicked her feet up and down as she spoke.

Shirou smirked. "Harry said something similar. You two really are peas in a pod, I'm glad you're having a good time."

"You've been having fun too, right?" Shirou's expression became more hollow. "What is it? Why don't you say something?"

"Well, it's just…"

Rin gave Shirou a hard look. "Look, tell me the truth. Be honest. It's fine, but if I misunderstood I have to know now."

"I guess that I… I never thought about mage training as something that was fun," Shirou answered. "Or magic, for that matter. For me, it was more like I was happy if people around me were happy. The way that I always saw it was if I learn magic then maybe I could end up help people some day." Rin's expression grew surprised. "I wanted to be a hero of justice, just like Kiritsugu. That's why I'm learning magic. And I guess it's my reason for sticking with all of this."

"Let me get this straight," Rin said. "You never thought of studying magic as doing something for yourself?"

"Well, I never thought about it like that. Not really." Rin growled as Shirou continued. "It makes me happy to know that I can be useful to others."

"Really? That's you being happy, not magic being fun. Look, I want to know about _you_. I want to know whether or not you actually enjoy it. I don't care about anyone else. I'm asking you if there's anything about it you consider to be fun?"

Shirou stared at Rin for a moment. "Is there anything about this that's fun?" he repeated. "Hard to say." He flashed back to that day. The heat. The pain. The desperation. Hopelessness. "I guess… thinking like that is a luxury I just don't feel that I deserve right now."

"Come on!" Rin snapped. "Tell me the truth!"

"Not really," Shirou admitted.

For the briefest of moments, Rin looked like she'd been shot. Then she turned away. "Then you're looking at it all wrong," she said and stalked away from Shirou.

He stared after her, confused. Something thumped heavily on the ground beside him and he jumped. He spun to see Harry sitting on the ground next to him.

"Well, that went well," he said, sarcastically.

"What did I do?" Shirou asked.

Harry sighed. "I'm going to be blunt here, Shirou, because subtlety seems to be quite lost on you. You're an idiot."

"What?"

"You have a goal set in your mind," Harry said. "Something you're going to strive for and you don't want anything in your way. You have to do it or you won't be able to live yourself. Am I close?"

Shirou didn't answer, struck once again by sheer… connection between the two of them. Just like with their game of questions, Harry seemed to know his heart and mind.

"I screwed up once," Harry said, without rancor or heat, but firmly. "I didn't press how dangerous something was, and because of that, Susan was changed." Harry's eyes grew haunted. "That was the mistake that led to it all. For the longest time, all I could do was try to find a way to cure her. I set aside everything. Work, friends, my _life_ , everything. I couldn't smile. Every failure just made me more determined to be the one who figured it out. But life is about more than just your goal. Life is about more than just survival."

"Why are you telling me this?" Shirou asked.

"Because you don't understand what Rin was trying to ask you," Harry said. He stood up and waved a hand through the air. A Way opened and Harry stepped through. "Come with me," he said. "Let's walk."

After a moment of hesitation, Shirou followed Harry through the door of light.

He found himself in the archery dojo at his high school. "Taiga tells me that you used to be in the archery club." Shirou nodded. "Why'd you quit?"

Shirou shrugged. "I wanted to prioritize work and other things," he answered. "Clubs are optional, so I dropped it."

Harry nodded. "I've never been one for bows. I know some aikido and some fencing, but if I ever needed to hit something far away, I'd just blast it." He tilted his head toward the the end of the shooting range. "Go and take a few shots."

Shirou raised an eyebrow. "I don't have my bow," he said.

Harry gave him a look. "You can literally make one out of thin air, Shirou. Indulge me."

Shirou returned the look, but then he pulled the trigger inside himself and projected a bow and some arrows. He set himself up and took a few shots while Dresden watched and asked polite questions.

They stayed for maybe half an hour before Harry stood and said he could stop. "So, how was it?"

Shirou shrugged. "It was fine." He tried to hide his confusion at what Harry was trying to do.

Harry gave Shirou a long look before standing up and opening another Way. They stepped through and Shirou found himself in his shed.

"Aside from from archery, I think the only other thing you find interesting is fixing stuff. Am I right?"

Shirou nodded. "I don't like waste. If it can be fixed, and reused, then it's better to do it that way than to just get something new."

Harry smiled. "I should get you to look at my car sometime. I don't know whether you'd die of shock or have an orgasm at the opportunity. But we can talk about that later. Is that the only reason you tinker?"

Shirou sighed. "Harry, what's this about?"

Harry shook his head. "Where I come from, you can't perform an act of magic that you don't believe in. So learning the Art is something that really teaches you about yourself. It's also why black magic is so corruptive. It bends you just as you bend others.

"People help stop that, Shirou. Finding something to help you stay centered and alive helps stop that. For Rin, it's magic and learning. She loves the challenge and that helps her keep herself from going down the wrong path. For me, it was game night with Butters and the Alphas and friends like Michael. _That's_ what Rin was talking about. Who, or what, do you have to save _yourself?_ "

Then he faded into his astralized state.

* * *

Shirou laid on his futon, his mind spinning with what Harry had been trying to tell him. _Saving myself?_ he thought. _Saving myself from what?_ He didn't realize how cryptic the wizard could get when he wanted to be. It was almost as bad as Pyrrha's vague remarks about the war not being quite right.

He glanced around at the bare room. It was true that he didn't have any hobbies. Archery was a discipline that had served him well in concentration and in focus, and his tinkering was a practical skill for him to master, but he didn't do them simply because he wanted to.

 _Was that what Harry was getting at?_ he thought. _That I need to find something for myself? But how would a hobby_ save _me?_ He wanted to help people. Wasn't that enough?

There was the faintest of knocks on his bedroom door and soft voice whispered: "Shirou? Are you awake?"

Shirou sat up in surprise as Sakura slowly opened his bedroom door and peeked inside. They met each other's gaze and Sakura turned bright red.

"Did I wake you?" she asked.

"No," he said quietly. Saber was asleep in the next room and he didn't want to wake her. "I was having trouble sleeping."

Sakura's eyes shifted back and forth for a moment. "Is it okay if I come in?"

Shirou nodded and the Matou quietly entered the room and closed the door. She sat down and Shirou realized that this was probably the first time she'd ever been in his room. It was possible that she'd come in when he wasn't there, but that didn't seem likely. He was studious in his cleaning chores even before the house seemed to get the mind to do it on its own.

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" he asked.

Sakura fidgeted again for a moment before she spoke up. "I'm worried, Shirou. Things have gotten crazy lately."

"Yeah," he said. "I guess they have."

"No one says anything to me," she continued. "But I know things are happening. You were taken yesterday and everyone had to go and get you. And then they were all gone that night trying to get you. I'm worried that something else is going to happen soon."

Sakura refused to look at Shirou now. "Sakura," he said. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head jerkily. "I haven't heard from Shinji," she said. "I'm worried something happened to him."

It took every scrap of Shirou's willpower to keep a neutral expression on his face at those words. Illya had said that Shinij had been killed by another Master after Saber had destroyed Rider.

It would kill Sakura if she found that out, but he didn't know if he could bring himself to lie to her either. His mouth moved on its own.

"I don't know, Sakura," he said, feeling a stab of guilt as he spoke the lie. Sakura shivered slightly. "If I see him, I'll be sure to tell him that you're worried."

As he tried to reassure the girl, his mind was moving frantically, looking for an explanation for what he was saying and why he was saying it.

 _It's not exactly a lie,_ he thought. _Illya was actively trying to recruit me and then destroy me. For all I know, she could've been lying to try and get to me and he might've gotten away to take shelter in the church._ Maybe if he repeated that line to himself often enough, he'd actually believe it.

"I'm scared," Sakura said.

"What can I do to help?" Six words that left his mouth on complete reflex.

Sakura went still for a moment, and she blushed heavily. "I don't want to be alone tonight," she whispered. "Can I… Can I stay here with you? Just for tonight?"

Shirou's brain turned off and a surge of unexpected terror flooded his mind. His first thought was, surprisingly, of what Saber's reaction might be if she caught them in the room together. But that was quickly subsumed by the image of Sakura sitting there, looking terrified and alone.

Sakura hadn't participated in the war thus far. Her only involvement so far had been keeping Pyrrha from disappearing by somehow maintaining her contract. She hadn't seen a single real battle between Servants. But she was by far the one person who seemed the most scared of the war that was going on around her.

But it wasn't like she was defenseless, either. Pyrrha's presence would prevent any harm from falling toward Sakura unless something managed to annihilate the Lancer in a single shot, or caught the Servant off guard, which didn't seem very likely.

So from a strategic standpoint, Sakura had nothing to be afraid of. But she still was.

It kept coming back to that point. Sakura was scared, and feeling vulnerable. The least he could do was give a moment of comfort and safety, right?

"Okay, Sakura," he said and felt his cheeks burning. "I guess it's okay."

Sakura's face lit up as Shirou agreed, and Sakura made her way to the futon. Shirou's face continued to feel flushed as Sakura laid down beside him, seeming oddly hesitant to touch him at first, but then moved up next to him like a child seeking comfort from a parent during a storm.

Shirou assumed that embarrassment would keep him awake most of the night, but a subtle scent from Sakura wore down his senses and he dropped off to sleep. His last thought was of how surprisingly warm Sakura felt beside him.

* * *

 **Author's note: Some fun and heavy stuff going on here. :) Also some more character development.  
**

 **Also, we've broken over 100 followers! That is incredible. Thank you all so much for enjoying this story. The next we need to do is break 100 favorites.**

 **Zane: I guess you'll just have to wait and see how the chips fall.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

 _Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments._ \- Bethenny Frankel

The living room was unusually crowded as everyone sat, or stood, in silence. Shirou sat in his usual spot, Saber and Link to either side of him. Rin and Harry sat at one end of the table and Sakura sat at the other. Pyrrha stood beside Sakura but by the wall. Across from Shirou sat Illyasviel von Einzbern with her two maids standing behind her.

Everyone's eyes were set on either Shirou or Illya and the air was filled with awkward tension. While they might have discussed what to with Illya the day before, it was only fair that they discuss the matter with the girl herself.

"So," Shirou said. "I suppose we just need to come out and ask it. You don't have any Servants anymore. Tohsaka has reminded me that you do have Command Seals and that you can still be a Master in this war, so long as you can find another Servant."

Illya's gaze went down to her lap. "But I won't," she said. Everyone's attention moved to the girl. "Berserker and Rider were my Servants, and they're the only ones for me."

"And we have your oath on that?" Harry asked, his tone serious.

Illya nodded. Then her expression brightened and she looked at Shirou. "But, if you happen to lose, Shirou, I'll be happy to take Saber off your hands."

Link rolled his eyes and rested his chin on one hand. "Typical," he said. "Saber gets the attention and I just sit on the sidelines.

"At least that solves one problem," Shirou said. "I suppose what we have to decide next is where we're going to put you."

One of the maids was moved to speech. "Mistress Illya is quite capable of staying where she has been. That is not for you to decide."

Harry looked left and then right at all of the Servants and Masters currently in the room. "I'm pretty sure our physical backup's better than yours, lady."

"No!" Illya snapped at the maid. "I want to stay here with Shirou."

"Why?" someone asked. Everyone's gaze turned to face Sakura. She had her hands held before her, and her fingers clenched and unclenched subtly. "You have somewhere you can stay. Why do you have to stay here?"

"Oh, why indeed," Illya said, a hint of mockery in her tone. "Maybe I just like being near Shirou."

Something flashed in Sakura's eyes and then Link coughed awkwardly. "Archer and I did sort of tear apart some of it," he admitted. "I don't know if it was enough to be a problem. But we didn't exactly hold back. I know Ghost Rider and I are responsible for at least one hole in the outer wall."

Sakura seemed to deflate at that and she looked away. Shirou gave Sakura an odd look before turning back to Illya.

"If you want to stay here, I don't object," Shirou said.

Rin cleared her throat. "Technically, there is another place Illyasviel could stay." Sakura glanced at Rin at that. "She could take sanctuary in the church. It is the Overseer's job to shelter Servantless Masters."

Shirou, Harry, Link, and Saber all gave Rin hard looks. "I'm not saying she _should_ ," she told them. "But I at least have to make sure the option is known."

"I don't think any of us trust Kirei as far as he could kick us," Harry said. "She's, what, twelve? I think the only thing keeping this from becoming a catholic priest joke is the fact that-"

"Harry," Rin snapped.

Shirou rose to his feet. "I suppose that's all the important issues we need to clear up. I can help you set up a room after breakfast, Illya."

"You're help won't be necessary," the first maid said.

"Oh that's not a problem," Illya said at the same time. The maid glanced at Illya, as if suspicious. "I'll stay stay in your room," Illya continued with an air of false innocence.

 _"Absolutely not,"_ said everyone else, except for the second maid. Illya pouted, but seemed to realize she was outnumbered. She sighed dramatically and lifted her chin in a dignified pose. "Fine. We'll set up in a guest room. Sella and Liz can do that."

The first maid looked like she still wanted to argue, but she didn't speak, clearly seeing that she was outnumbered.

* * *

Breakfast after that was both crowded and tense. With the addition of Illya and her attendants, Shirou was now feeding nine other people.

He opened the fridge and stared glumly at the interior. He was a highly skilled cook, but he couldn't make food appear out of thin air. There wasn't enough in the kitchen to prepare anything fancy or complicated.

Shirou sighed and started to get out ingredients and dishes when he felt a presence behind him. He turned to see Link standing in the kitchen with him.

"You don't have enough, do you?" he asked, his voice low enough to not carry out into the living room.

Shirou opened his mouth to assure Link that there would be enough for the meal, but the saber placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. "I know the layout of the entire kitchen," he said. "And I've watched you, Rin, and Sakura prepare meals enough to know about how much you keep on hand and in stock.

"You're low on ingredients, Shirou. And I have the distinct impression you don't want to slack off today, am I close?"

Shirou nodded.

"Then I am going to fulfill my duty as a Servant and protect you from any and all threats," Link said. "If that includes bankruptcy and ingredient deficiency, then so be it."

"What does that mean?" Shirou asked.

"That means: Get out of the kitchen, Shirou. I've got it."

Shirou opened his mouth to complain, but the hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened its grip and Shirou was bodily thrown out of his own kitchen.

He landed with a heavy thud in the living room and simply laid there in a state of surprised shock as Saber made her way to him and everyone else stopped their conversations to look at him.

"Wow," Illya said. "You take that kind of treatment from your Servants?"

"What the hell?" Shirou demanded.

Link called out from the kitchen: "Could someone please keep my Master from coming in? An artist needs room to work."

"An artist?" Shirou asked. "You just threw me out of my own kitchen!"

"Oh, pipe down, Emiya," Rin said, resting her chin in her hand. "Let him have his fun."

"Fun?" Shirou asked.

"I'm curious to see what he's going to do," Rin said. "I've never seen a Servant attack a hobby like this before."

"But it's my kitchen," Shirou said.

"You let Sakura and I use it," Rin answered. "So let Link have his turn."

Shirou suddenly remembered the ruthless way Rin had defeated Taiga with logic when she'd started staying in the house. Rin was using the same tone of voice now, and Shirou suspected that Rin was setting up another logical trap.

"Shirou," Saber said. "I must admit that I would like to see what Link can do on his own. I'd like to try his food one more time. For comparison."

"He's cooked before?" Rin asked.

"Just once," Saber answered. "Back when this all started."

"Hmmm," Rin mused. "So I've probably had some of his cooking without realizing it. Now I'm even more curious."

Shirou watched as Link moved around in the kitchen with the air of a man who was completely confident in what he is doing. With a sigh, Shirou let it go and joined everyone at the table. He kept stealing glances at the kitchen, though.

Rin had turned her attention to the Einzbern. "If you're going to be staying here," she said. "It'd be in your best interest to share any info you've managed to gather. Have you learned anything about Caster's Master?"

Illya shook her head. "No," she admitted. "Caster's original Master was a former Association mage. But she killed him early and has been maintaining herself by draining people in the city. She's bound to someone, but I haven't been able to find out who. Rider wasn't much of an investigator."

Rin sighed. "Well she's staying at Ryuudou temple, so it's likely that her Master is there as well."

"Could it be one of the monks there?" Shirou asked.

"You'd think they'd know enough about spiritualism to be able to see her coming," Harry commented. "It's not like she's human, after all."

"You haven't been able to use the model to get a look inside?" Rin asked.

"I've made a few jabs at the temple," Harry said carefully. "But the natural defenses around the mountain make any spell difficult to get a grip there. Plus if Caster has put the right kind of wards in place, I could fry my brain trying to get a look inside. I've been trying to gauge her defenses, but it's slow going."

"And she has two Assassins guarding the building," Pyrrha said. "Ezio isn't going to let any of us wander inside during the day. He's trained to blend in crowds." Everyone looked at the Lancer in surprise. "He used his Noble Phantasm while the Bloodfort was active," she explained. "It's called the _**Brotherhood of Assassins**_. It allows him to call on allies and resources of the Assassin brotherhood he built during his life."

"So breaking into the temple by force should be our last resort," Saber mused.

"Well what about Lancer's Master?" Rin asked. "Or the second Archer? Do you think they have the same Master?"

Illya shook her head firmly. "Lancer and the second Archer have different Masters," she said. "They were summoned at different times and the secondary Servant is almost always summoned around the same time as the primary Servant."

"Almost?" Harry asked.

Illya shrugged. "For some reason, the second Archer was summoned out of the normal sequence. They were summoned after Caster, but before Lancer. It might be because Caster's Master tried to summon early."

"And how do you know that?" Rin asked.

Illya smiled sweetly. "I have my ways, Rin."

Link left the kitchen at that moment carrying plates covered with food. "That was fast," Shirou commented.

"I am not as limited as you mere mortals," Link said, his voice haughty and clearly insincere. He set a large plate with rows of seared fish with sauce drizzled across them down at the center of the table, another plate with what looked like crab and a few more with omelettes with an unusual purple coloration to them. After another trip to the kitchen, Link came out with bowls of soup and plates of toast. "Enjoy," Link said and took his seat again.

Rin eyed the purple colored omelettes dubiously. "What is this?" she asked.

"Well," Link answered. "We have some seared sizzlefin with a hylian herb sauce drizzled on top, bright eyed crab and silent princess with a couple of monstrous omelettes as a side piece. Also some miso staminella soup with a mighty banana and hydromelon compote for the toast."

Shirou blinked. Link was quite versed in his cooking lingo. The saber had delivered his meal with the speed and clarity of a professional cook. But…

"Link," he said. "Half of what you just said doesn't exist. I know I didn't have any crab or fish back there. So how…?"

Link shrugged. "It's not my fault you're limited. I used what I had on hand."

"On _hand?_ " Shirou asked and glanced between Link and the food. "Do you have a skill that lets you access someone else's refrigerator or something?"

"Near enough," he answered and set one of the fish in front of him. "It's gonna get cold if you all just sit there. Oh, and go easy on those omelettes. They occasionally summon chuchus. Although if that happens then the Grail really is omnipotent and all powerful."

Shirou got the distinct impression that Link was enjoying this far too much. His pride as a cook shrank slightly even as his sense of competition grew in direct relation. He'd have to go shopping for groceries later, if only to save his pride.

Cautiously, everyone else began to try out the food before them and Link's eyes shone with pride at the startled and pleased reactions of everyone at the table. The meal he had made previously had been good, but this one outshone that earlier demonstration by far.

It made sense, Link had been able to work with what he knew. Even Sakura could outdo Shirou in Western-style foods, and he'd taught her. The familiar was always easier to work with.

After everyone had started in on their food, Link regarded Rin. "You were talking about the other Archer, right?"

"Yes," Rin answered. "We were trying to figure out who her Master might actually be and who her partner is."

"Her name is Sinon and her Noble Phantasm is a Hecate anti-material rifle that penetrates barriers. She can fly, is an artist with a bow, and is scarily smart. She also has a knack for magic, especially infusing arrows or bullets with elemental effects."

"Well," Harry said. "That's helpful. I hope I'll have time to come up with something before she turns up again."

"How did you figure all of that out?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because she demonstrated it on me the other night," Link said. "I ran into her while everyone was looking for Shinji and Rider."

At the mention of her brother, Sakura grew tense. Shirou caught it and quickly tried to change the subject. The last thing he needed was Illya to mention Shinji's death. Especially since he had evaded it before.

"Sakura," he said. "I was planning on visiting Fuji-nee today. Do you want to come?"

Sakura shook her head. "I actually had something planned with Pyrrha today."

Shirou glanced at the Lancer, who simply smiled at him.

* * *

 **Author's note: Rather short and low-key chapter this week. A lot just went down and I gotta build it back up.  
** **As a side note, I'm trying to decide if this point ends the first real story arc or if we've had a couple. I guess it'll be easier when the story's finished and the chips have all fallen.**

 **SentinalSlice: Fun fact, that walk and talk was off the script. It just sort of happened as I was writing the chapter.  
** **Sadly, belief doesn't really factor into magecraft. That's more a Dresdenverse thing. But that doesn't mean that there isn't crossover between the two. I think you'll like what I have planned for Shirou's improvement, both in magic and in who he is.**

 **Zane: True, Shirou does love to cook and, by extension, he loves the kitchen, but I doubt Shirou himself sees that as enough. He's never actually seen cooking as a hobby, it's just something he does. And while Harry might not have mentioned the cooking, that doesn't mean that his words are any less true.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

 _Have you come to teach, or to learn?_ \- Brother Vincent, The Aeronaut's Windlass

Hospitals are more than just bastions against illness and injury. They're a bizarre type of prison. A location where individuals enter and abandon aliments to be trapped and die away. There's a reason anyone who has spent any significant time in a hospital learns to hate it.

It's a sterile and clean place where things, large and small, come to die. A place that smells of antiseptic and where time doesn't appear to have any meaning for those stuck inside. The prisoners in a hospital are bound there by injury, fear, or obligation and feel a year's worth of emotion in the span of a few minutes.

They're necessary places and the people in them do good work, but that sense of darkness and potential despair is always there, lurking behind the smiles and the earnest effort of the doctors, nurses, and staff.

None of which even gave Taiga Fujimura pause as she loudly and enthusiastically demanded a discharge, Shirou's food, and that 'No, she would not be donating any blood Thank You Very Much.'

"What kind of doctor are you?" the tiger roared. "I'm just as sick as everyone else! But you're not asking _them_ for any blood."

Shirou couldn't help smile slightly at the tirade. Hopefully Taiga wouldn't go too overboard on the doctor. Saber tilted her head slightly as they made their way toward the ruckus.

"Is she always like this?" Link asked. He'd opted to stay materialized for the visit, the hylian having made a special trip into town to grab some normal clothes. While the tunic and pants resembled everyday wear, the chain shirt and the older style of the clothes would draw too much attention.

Link had instead opted for a pair of khaki cargo pants, a plain white shirt, and a green hoodie. And he still somehow made the ensemble look appropriate to wear on a battlefield. It must have had something to do with his status as a Servant.

Saber always looked regal in her casual clothes, a modern monarch hiding in the masses, while Link looked like a legendary warrior no matter what the setting. Of all the Servants Shirou had been near, Harry was the only one who appeared able to truly pass for someone normal.

The three of them got some strange looks from the others in the hospital as they made their way to Taiga's room.

"Try caging a tiger sometime and see how well that goes for you," Shirou commented. Link shuddered.

"I'll pass," he said and stuck his hands in his pockets.

Shirou opened the door to Taiga's room just as her doctor was leaving. "Shirou!" she exclaimed. "You came to see me!"

"And more," he said, lifting up a bento box.

Taiga's eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas morning as she spotted Shirou's present. As he set out the food for her, Taiga launched herself into the prepared meal. Shirou watched Taiga devour the bento with an amused smile as the sabers stepped away to give them a bit of privacy. Far faster than could be normal, Taiga had finished the meal and was sitting back with a content grin upon her face.

"You know Fuji-nee, if anyone else had consumed that much food that quickly, I would have thought that the hospital was starving them," he told her. Taiga pouted for just a moment before perking right back up.

"That's because _you_ have never had to suffer through hospital food! Come to think of it, you never even got sick as a kid. It's so unfair!" Taiga huffed before giving Shirou a serious look. "It's actually a good thing you weren't in school that day. Otherwise you would have been stuck here as well. Speaking of, have you heard from Sakura or Issei? I asked around but neither of them were brought in to the hospital."

Shirou shook his head a bit. "Sakura is currently at my place Fuji-nee. I hadn't heard about Issei though." It had taken Harry, Rin, and himself a good few hours that morning to figure out what exactly they were going to say to Taiga when he visited her. Going with the official excuse that there has been an accident in the chemistry lab that had resulted in most of the school fainting as well as the structural damage was a decent enough excuse. As for the reasoning behind why Sakura wasn't in the hospital…

"Apparently Sakura had left earlier in the day for, ah, a personal reason. She wasn't in school when the accident occurred." As Harry had probably expected, Shirou's uncomfortable tone had more than helped sell the fairly, in Rin's words, 'flimsy excuse'.

Taiga's eyes became almost feline as she stared hard at Shirou. "Shirou, are you telling me that you still have Sakura and Tohsaka AND Saber at your place, with only Mr. Dresden to watch over you?" Shirou felt a sense of foreboding sweep over him, which caused him to mentally stumble.

"I also think Sakura's friend Pyrrha is staying there now as well," he added, without realizing what he was saying. Only the hours he had spent training with Saber and Link saved him from injury as Taiga threw the bento box at his head. He managed to dodge out of the way with an exclamation of alarm. From behind him, there was a sound of rapid movement as Link managed to catch the bento before it hit the ground.

"Careful there, Taiga. If you break this, Shirou won't be able to bring you more food." Link nodded to Shirou before going back to Saber.

Shirou turned to face Taiga again, staying back out of her range. "Shirou… are you telling me there is yet another girl staying in your house?! Are you _trying_ to build a harem?!" For a moment, Shirou could have sworn there was the image of a pouncing tiger behind her.

"Woah woah woah Fuji-nee! What is it with you today? And Pyrrha is only staying there because Sakura is there. It's not like she could stay at Sakura's place. They're still fixing the big hole in it."

Taiga stared at Shirou for a moment more before letting out a dramatic sigh and reverting back to her normal self. "Well, it's not like you would ever actually take advantage of anyone staying with you. And the chance of you being a bed with even one woman, let alone two at the same time, is about as likely as magic being real."

Shirou hoped that his facial expression was as blank as he was trying to make it as a series of images from not all that long ago passed through his head.

"Don't be ridiculous Fuji-nee," he snapped. "In any case, have you heard anything about how damaged the school is?"

Taiga pouted for a moment, not getting the reaction from Shirou she wanted before becoming serious. "As far as I know, school will be closed for at least a week while they assess and repair the damages. Since most of the teachers are in the hospital as well, it's been slow going. Mr. Kuzuki has been assisting the police with the inside inspection. He's even still commuting from Ryuudou temple every day to do so."

Shirou glanced back at his Servants, trying to get their reactions. Link gave him a significant look and nodded subtly. Saber… Saber was staring out the window, her face slightly pink. Shirou shrugged slightly and turned back to Taiga.

"Mr. Kuzuki wasn't affected by the gas at all?"

Taiga left out a huff of annoyance. "No! Not at all! Apparently he was outside when it happened! He caught a couple of students sneaking out and was lecturing them when it happened!" Taiga's voice became nothing more than indistinguishable muttering as Shirou shared another glance with his Servants before turning back to Taiga.

"Fuji-nee, make sure to call me when they are going to let you out so I can make sure to have a feast ready for you. Link, Saber, and I have a couple more errands to run before we head home." The three of them made there way out of Taiga's room, waving their goodbyes before hurrying out onto the streets. Saber finally spoke up.

"Shirou, do you suspect your teacher is actually Caster's Master?"

"I don't know," he answered. "I think we'll need to talk this over with Tohsaka. But the only other option is Issei, and I doubt that it's him. Let's get back and figure out our next move."

* * *

Rin found Harry in his workshop, examining Little Fuyuki.

"What are you doing?" she asked her Servant.

"I'm trying to think of a way to locate Caster's Master," he answered. "If I had something connected to her, I could simply try a tracking spell and watch her through the model. Of course, if she's taken even the slightest precautions, that'll be difficult. She might not understand thaumaturgy as I do, but her defenses against remote vision will be impressive regardless." He glanced over at the mage. "Got any insight, kid?"

"What I have is a question that I've been meaning to ask you," Rin said.

Dresden sat and leaned back in a nearby chair. "Shoot," he said.

"What does it mean to be a Warden?" she asked.

The thoughtful expression on Harry's face slid away and became something far more sober. "That's not what I expected you to ask," he admitted.

"I was talking to Pyrrha the other day, and she said that I needed to ask you that. That it would help me understand things I was asking her."

"How'd she know I was a Warden?"

Rin shrugged. "If she's been with Sakura, then she might've been there when you introduced yourself to Fujimura. She must've recognized you."

Harry grunted. Then he stood up and made his way outside and onto the porch of the main building. Rin followed, waiting for his answer.

Harry didn't answer right away. He sat there and looked out at the yard thoughtfully for a long moment until he seemed to gather his thoughts.

"Do you know what the main difference is between the White Council and the Mage's Association?"

"No," she answered.

"Rules," he replied. "The cardinal rule of the Mage's Association is to keep the knowledge of the supernatural away from outsiders. No witnesses. Apart from a few taboos, such as reality marbles and the creation of Dead Apostles, the Association doesn't care what a mage does with his or her power.

"The White Council is similar to the Association. It's less a governing body than it is a regulatory force. They don't go advertising their presence, but they don't make as much of an effort to hide the supernatural as the Association does, largely because mortals will go to impressive lengths to rationalize the weirdness away. But, unlike the Association, the Council enforces seven laws of magic. Breaking any of them gets you a death sentence."

"What does this have to do with being a Warden?" Rin asked.

"Everything," Harry answered. "Wardens are the White Council's police and soldiers. They investigate and track down those who break the laws, called Warlocks, and act to keep supernatural predators from taking people. They're also the Council's fighting force whenever they go to war.

"During the war with the Red Court, I was dragooned into their ranks because of our losses and made a regional commander, tasked to keep Chicago and the midwestern United States secure and protected."

"You were a Second Owner?" Rin asked. A Second Owner was a mage family from the Association who took up residence in a spiritually rich area, where ley lines met, and managed the affairs of the magic and the supernatural there. If a mage wanted to set up a workshop in a spiritually rich area, they had to inform the Second Owner. Rin herself was a Second Owner, in charge of Fuyuki after her father died.

Harry smiled. "Sort of. Chicago was a confluence of ley lines and I was in charge of keeping the supernatural in check. But, there is a distinction between being a Second Owner and a Warden. All you have to do is keep any mages from causing too much trouble. I had to enforce very real rules."

Rin thought it over for a moment. Harry was correct. The regulations from the Association were extremely lax when it came to outsiders. If a mage went and slaughtered a school full of children in the name of an experiment and kept the evidence hidden from the mortal authorities, all the Association would ask was what the results were. Whereas Harry…

"What are the laws of magic?" she asked.

Harry drew in a deep breath. "Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not enthrall another. Thou shall not transform another. Thou shall not invade the thoughts of another. Thou shall not move against the flow of time. Thou shall not seek knowledge from beyond the borders of life. Thou shall not open the Outer gates.

"Seven laws. That's all the Council has to help control the use of power. If you're caught breaking them. The Wardens arrest you and cut your head off, if you aren't killed resisting arrest."

"Did you ever...?"

Harry shook his head. "I've killed black practitioners, but I didn't hunt down warlocks. In fact, I lobbied hard to try and get the number of warlocks killed down. I wanted us to find the kids who became them early and teach them so that they didn't go warlock."

Rin hesitated for just a moment before she spoke again. "Did you ever break them?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. I broke the first law when I was 16. I killed my former teacher, himself a warlock, with magic. The wardens found me and put me on trial. They would've killed me if another wizard hadn't taken responsibility for me and taught me to get on the straight and narrow."

"They didn't kill you?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "There was a precedent for using magic in self-defense, plus if another wizard is willing to take responsibility for the young breaker of a law and teaches them, they can be put on a kind of zero-tolerance probation called the Doom of Damocles. If the guy slips up, he and his teacher are killed."

"That's a hard system," Rin said.

"Yep," Harry agreed. "Simple rules, but hard results. Never thought I'd miss the laws as much as I do now."

"Why?" Rin asked. Harry gave her a look.

"Rin, if the Wardens were to suddenly appear here, with numbers and the desire to enforce the laws, most of the Association would probably be gone in a matter of days. As a whole, they're a bunch of assholes. From what I've learned, most mages have a strong disdain for their fellow human beings. All they do is pursue power without any regard for what it does or who it consumes. To the point where they lock up anyone who has a lick of ability that makes them truly special up so that they can be dissected and studied. The Council might recruit you, interrogate you endlessly, make you offers of wealth that are difficult to ignore, but they wouldn't lock you up in Edinburgh if you said no."

Something about that last statement caught Rin's attention. Pyrrha had implied a lot before telling her to ask Harry about being a Warden. That meant that Pyrrha, on some level, understood the laws of magic as Dresden did, and implied that they would help Rin understand something about the situation.

She opened her mouth and the phone rang.

Rin spun her head in the direction of the phone and then rose to go and answer. Sakura got to the phone first and answered.

"Hello, Emiya residence," she said. Rin couldn't hear what the reply was, but when she turned the corner to look at Sakura, the Matou's expression was a wooden mask. She turned to face Rin. "Sure," she said, her voice civil, but oddly strained. " _Rin's_ right here. I'll put her on, _Shirou_."

She held the receiver out to Rin and very nearly stalked away from her once she'd taken it. Goosebumps ran down one of Rin's arms as the air seemed to grow noticeably colder. Rin stared after Sakura for a long moment, noting perspiration on the girl's exposed skin, before putting the receiver to her ear and turning to face away.

She missed the way Sakura's retreating shadow twisted and writhed on the ground before resolving into a normal shape once again.

"What did you say to her?" she demanded.

"I… have no idea," Shirou answered. "All I said was that I needed to talk to you."

Rin rolled her eyes, even though Emiya couldn't see her. Maybe he'd be bright enough to sense the action. If he wasn't, well, she'd give him an earful later once she figured out what had gotten Sakura so upset.

"Well, what was so important that you had to call me from the hospital for?" she asked. "I was busy."

"Do you remember that Archer that attacked you and my second Saber?"

"Yeah," Rin said slowly. Gears began turning in her head and the situation was becoming clear. She glanced at the phone cradle's display as she answered. She didn't know much about technology, but phones like this one usually displayed the caller's number or ID when the phone rang.

Apparently this one didn't show the ID as the call was in progress, and she didn't dare mess with any of the settings while she was on the line with Shirou.

"Well, I'm staring right at her," Shirou said. "I don't know where her Master is, but he's likely close by. I think they're making their way to the park."

"Okay," Rin said. "I wasn't really that busy anyway. Harry and I will try to intercept her. She's already done a number on your Servants. Let us have a shot."

"Okay," Shirou answered. "I'll hang back and give you support." They both hung up.

"Harry," Rin said and the Servant was at her side in a moment.

"What's up, Rin?" he asked. She stared at the phone with disapproval. Then she smiled.

"How do you feel about setting off a trap?" she asked.

* * *

 **Author's note: Oh, Taiga. If only you knew. Also, I'm not really sure how long it would take to fix a giant hole blown into a house of that size. Harry's kinda hell-on-wheels for that sort of thing. Actually, now that I think about it, it's kinda amazing he didn't level the building.  
**

 **Naruto: Oh I have a feeling you know who it is. You and I seem to have very similar taste in entertainment. And there's actually been one** _ **very**_ **subtle reference to the being you speak of. I would ask that you not post your guess in a review, if only to keep the game up for everyone else. If you want to PM me the guess, that's another thing entirely.  
** **Also, thank you for making me think of the one piece of information I needed to be absolutely certain I knew how the whole Sinon thing fell down. I had something like 95% of it figured out already, but I needed one last piece to really make it work. So, thank you very much for that.**

 **Gundam-Knight-Chris: If you're implying that you read through everything that I've posted so far in a single session, then I just want you to know that you just read the Two Towers in a single session. Which is freaking amazing, let me tell you.**

 **AmethystPone: Well, you guys are already on day 12, so your estimation isn't that bad so far. Given the way things are flowing, some events might pass more quickly or slowly than they did in the original content.**

 **Zaralann: Thank you so much! :)**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

 _Ah, but being an annoyance is something I happen to be very good at. In fact, people tell me I can be downright frustrating._ \- Kelsier, Mistborn: The Final Empire

Rin and Harry stepped out of the Way and into the burned out park. As the doorway of light faded away, she glanced around and laid one gloved hand on her hip.

"You can come out now," she said. "I'm sure you know as well as I do that no one comes here."

There was a ripple in the air and the Cowboy appeared several feet away from her, a grin on his face.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"Lots of things," she answered. "Primary among them is that Emiya doesn't call me by my first name. And that he'd never call me and offer to stay back."

The Cowboy clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Crap," he said. "I slipped up."

"Yep," Rin agreed mercilessly.

The Cowboy laid one hand on his heart in mock pain. "Ouch," he said. "So ruthless," he said. "You're not even gonna give me props for copyin' his voice?"

Rin shrugged one shoulder. "Your skill at clever little spells does you no good if you make such a huge mistake," she answered. "But, I'll admit it was clever." She glanced around again. "I assume the bounded field you've just empowered will keep this private?"

The Cowboy nodded. "They're a specialty of mine," he drawled. Sinon materialized beside him, bow in her hand and eyes set on Dresden.

"Sinon," Harry greeted the Archer. "I wasn't expecting to see you quite this soon."

"Dresden," she said.

"Well," the Cowboy said. "It looks like we all know each other. Something else I must've missed." He gave a formal bow. "Well, you know everyone except me. Tony Barnett, at your service."

Rin gave him an annoyed look. "You're taking this awfully casually."

Tony shrugged. "It's important to take pleasure in what you do. It makes the hard and distasteful moments bearable." He gave his Servant a look. "The wizard's yours, Sinon. There's plenty of room for you to work."

"Don't burn the whole park down, Harry," Rin said.

Harry sighed. "I am never going to live that down," he muttered. A set of translucent wings appeared on Sinon's back and the cait sith took to the sky and flew further into the park as Harry opened another door with a spoken word and stepped through.

"So," Rin said. "Now that we're alone, should we start our own battle?"

"Why do we have to do anything?" Tony asked. "This is supposed to be a proxy war, ain't it?"

"You know fully well why," Rin answered. "And you don't think I'm just going to stand here, are you?"

"It is commonly accepted that it's smarter to take out the Master," Tony agreed. "Any questions before we start?"

Rin smirked. "You sound more literate than last time we met."

Tony threw back his head and let out a loud laugh at that. "It always pays ta play up the accent," he said, heavily thickening his Texan drawl. "It annoys the hoity-toity Association types inta a conniption." Rin gave him an annoyed look and he grinned back. He nodded his head to her hands. "Are those new?"

Rin smiled. "Maybe they are," she teased. "Or maybe I only take them out for special occasions."

"Do I warrant a special occasion?" he asked. "I didn't think you'd enjoy being tied up so much."

Rin's face went bright red at that. "Shibari?" she asked in an outburst. "Really? Are you that perverted?"

Tony gave an apologetic shrug. "It was all I could think of off the top of my head. I'll give you the first shot as repayment."

Rin smirked. "Fine then," she said and shot her hand up in a quick motion and fired off a quick pair of Gandr shots.

Barnett moved just as quickly, lifting his left hand and saying: _"Espejo de sangre."_

Rin's Gandr shots met the reflective pane of the mirror and rippled as they reflected off of the surface and shot back toward their caster. Rin moved as the shots returned and the curse passed her and eventually struck the barrier.

Rin grimaced. "That's hardly fair," she grumbled.

Tony just shrugged. Then he pitched a ball of fire at her without any warning. Rin, expecting a sudden attack, already had her counter ready. Mana surged from her and power coalesced into a solid barrier that spread out the fire across its surface.

Sinon's Master let out an approving sound. "You're quick, Tohsaka."

Rin's only reply was a burst of wind through the last remnants of the fire. Tony took a quick side step and let the burst of force pass him by. "Do you want to run through them all?" he asked. "Or do you want to actually get this started?"

"I thought you'd want the opportunity to see the range I could use," Rin replied.

"It's hardly a fair test if we just take turns and throw stuff at each other. Let's see how you really get down." Then he pulled the whip form his belt and said: _"Llama de plata retorcida."_

The silver and red cord of the whip shot out from the wooden handle and snaked through the air toward Rin.

Rin incanted at speed and moved with increased speed to evade the snapping strike of the whip. Then she fired off another pair of Gandr shots as she continued to move.

The rope twisted in the air and swatted the curses from the air and Rin stopped running and lined up another shot. The end of the rope snapped out and wrapped itself around her wrist and hurled her off the ground in a throw.

Something glittered in the air and Tony spotted the blue gem twirling through the air just as Rin shouted a word. The gem shattered into a barrage of blue lights flying toward him like a hail of small caliber gunfire.

The cable of the whip unwound from her wrist and he began to spin and snap the whip to block and intercept as many of the bolts as he could while using the mirror on his left hand to deflect others.

Rin was on her feet a moment later and made a gesture with one of her hands. Several of the bolts of power stopped in mid-flight and then spun in random directions before coming down on him from multiple sides.

Tony twisted and dodged and lashed out with his whip once again. Rin fell back from the lash, her face in an annoyed grimace. Barnett grinned and pitched another bolt of fire, this one a bright green color, at Rin with a careless gesture.

Rin evaded and threw another gem at Tony. This one shattered into shards of light and then the ground around him shifted and heaved into a heavy dome around him. There was a brief look of surprise on the enemy Master's face before the dome completely encased him, blocking his line of sight and locking the whip inside with him.

 _Now's my chance_ , Rin thought. _He can't guide the whip to me if he can't see me and has to beat his way through a wall._ She held both hands before her and began to incant in German. The aria was only a couple of lines in length, but would be far more powerful than her fast spells or even the quick bursts of elemental power she could channel through her new gloves.

Lines of blazing red seared across the surface of the earthen dome and the mound fell apart with a a crash and a small cloud of dust. Tony stepped through the cloud just as Rin finished her aria and released the large, blazing ball of fire she'd created.

Fire was a tough element to fight against. While the fire itself was incredibly dangerous, the heat it generated was just as, if not more, dangerous. Barriers that stopped simply kinetic force didn't stop indirect forces like light or heat, so a well done fire spell could still do impressive damage despite attempts to stymie it.

The blaze struck Tony straight on and Rin allowed herself a small smile at the move. That smile changed to a gasp of shock as the fire continued on, setting the grass behind Tony ablaze.

Tony Barnett stood there, completely unharmed, not even slightly singed, and gave Rin a small smile of his own. He flicked out a cigarette from somewhere and used the remnants of Rin's fireball to light it. He drew and exhaled casually while Rin simply stood there in shock and outrage.

"I'm fireproof," he explained and took another draft of smoke. Then he pulled the cigarette away from his lips. "You're not," he added and flicked the cigarette in Rin's direction.

The tube of paper and tobacco shot through the air like a bullet and landed right at Rin's feet. It exploded into a massive cloud of choking smoke. Rin inadvertently inhaled some and immediately began coughing as she covered her mouth.

Her eyes began to sting and tears came. She quickly made her way out of the cloud and waiting for the attack that would come the instant she began visible.

As soon as she cleared the cloud, she coughed out a word and wind began swirling around her. If Barnett tried another burst of fire the whirlwind would prevent the flame or heat from hurting her. Something slammed into her back and sent her tumbling across the ground. She went into a roll and was on her feet almost immediately. Kirei had taught her quite thoroughly that falling down in a fight was the next best thing to dying.

She turned to face Tony again and weaved out of the way of another strike from his whip. She shot a flurry of ice spikes at him and made her way further back.

Those gloves were coming in handy. With the code being tied to her Element of Average One, she was able to simply channel mana into them and release a simple spell connected to any of the five magical elements.

 _'It's an amazing affinity to have,'_ Harry had explained after he had made the gloves for her. _'Your evocations will be simple if you use the gloves, but you're not going to be held back like I am when I simply use my blasting rod. Think of them as a wizard's staff on your hands.'_

With a grimace she dodged the next strike held her hands out once again, unleashing a wave of pure cold in his direction instead of simply physical strike. Tony's whip blazed into fire and and he swirled it around.

The fire of the whip was apparently hot enough to combat the wave of cold that she'd sent his way, but Rin was already moving into her next attack, slashing one hand in the air and sending a scythe of air at him from one side.

Tony spun out of the way of the attack and swiped his whip in a downward motion, slapping the cable into the ground between them in a straight line. Rin leapt back and barely managed to evade the end of the whip, and was subsequently blasted off of her feet by a wave of pure _sound_ as the whip cracked.

Rin rolled along the ground and started to rise to her feet. A quick glance at Tony showed her the other Master drawing the modern pistol from his side and leveling it at her.

Rin was on her feet instantly and spun her duster up and over her face as she began to move. There was a pair of cracks and Rin felt something strike the leather over her arm. It hurt, but the bullet didn't penetrate past the spell-layered leather.

She heard Tony curse and the whip snap through the air once again. She let the duster drop back around her and moved away from the whip once again.

The whip missed and Rin moved again to line up another magical shot. Then her eyes went wide as she realized that her legs wouldn't move anymore.

She glanced down and saw that her legs were wrapped in something like mud and holding her immobile. Now that she was paying attention, she could feel the small bounded field that had been placed, like a magical land mine, to catch anyone who wandered into it.

"A bounded field trap?" she asked and looked up in time to see Tony charging toward her in a tackle. The impact shattered the bonds holding her in place and sent her to the ground once again. She felt weight on her body as Tony began to pin her.

Rin felt a surge of panic. It wouldn't be hard for him to kill her once he had her pinned. As much as she despised Kirei Kotomine, he had been thorough in his lessons to her on how to fight. To stay on the ground was to lose, and die.

Hours of practice took over and she reached into one of her duster's many voluminous pockets as she rapidly analyzed the pin. Tony wasn't pinning her correctly. He seemed oddly reluctant to put his full weight on her, and a voice in her head was telling her, in an annoyingly accurate Kirei impresion, to take full and merciless advantage of that fact.

She pulled out the pocket knife she'd taken from Shirou's workshop and managed to flick the blade out. Then she jammed the inordinately sharp blade directly into Tony's arm.

Tony let out a blistering curse and reflexively recoiled from her. In that second of distraction, she pulled out a small, plastic sports bottle from another pocket and quickly drank its contents.

She took _immense_ personal satisfaction in the look of complete surprise on Tony's face as her entire body seemed to vibrate and then scatter apart. She flowed away from the other Master and right through the bounded field that surround the park.

Not a moment after she was outside of the field, she seemed to shiver and reform into her physical form as the escape potion Dresden had made for her earlier wore off and she ceased being the wind. The wizard was certainly handy when it came to making things.

Barnett was far too experienced a combat mage for her to stay behind and duke it out. He had, infuriatingly, been holding back in his attacks against her. Why he had been, she couldn't guess. But the simple fact that he had been holding back told her that he could've destroyed her without much effort if he'd wanted to. She had to change her strategy and face him on her own terms, rather than his. This plan to turn his trap against him had failed and staying around was only going to get her killed.

She turned to face the bounded field and tried to see what was happening with her Servant now that she had escaped her own battle.

* * *

Sinon saw the doorway open and the wizard step out of the gate. In an eyeblink she had her bow drawn and ready to fire.

 _Dresden is a magical brawler,_ she thought, reviewing what she'd been told about the wizard from Tony. _The best way to kill a wizard is the sudden ambush. I have to take him down before he can hit me with something powerful or use his Noble Phantasm._

At that thought her eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance. Learning a Servant's true name was almost always a benefit. It revealed the Servant's strengths and weaknesses and what their Noble Phantasm was. But learning Dresden's name hadn't revealed everything she'd hoped for.

These secondary Servants didn't work the same way as others. They all came from their own worlds and followed slightly different rules. She knew the story of Harry Dresden, but that story was full of so many different feats and trials that it became muddled and made him hard to predict. _Did the deal he'd made become a Phantasm or simply a skill? What specifically can he use? Is he as limited here as he is in his own world?_

She knew he was powerful and had a tendency toward tenacity. But what exactly he would do in any given combat situation was hard to know. He wouldn't be subtle, she was certain of that. Trapped in this giant bounded field meant he could fight without reservation, and that made her cautious enough not to simply open up with her own Phantasm.

She had to be fast and aggressive, but also cautious.

Sinon waited until Dresden had completely exited the Way before she unleashed a barrage of arrows at him, infusing several of them with elemental effects on the fly with a quick spell.

The arrows flew true and all stopped dead as they impacted an invisible barrier that flashed with silver light as the spell effects engaged. The wizard spun and pointed his staff in her direction. With a shouted word, a blast of kinetic force was sent her way and the wizard took of in a sprint.

Sinon took to the air and evaded the blast of power and began firing again. Harry kept his left hand out and her shafts continued to impact against his arcane shield. That was fine, if she could keep him in one place she could use her Hecate to pierce his shield and take him out in one shot.

She hadn't bothered equipping her submachine gun since Dresden's duster would stop the bullets. She'd stick to the arrows and her Hecate if she had to.

She kept to the sky and continued to harass him and force him further away from Tony and Tohsaka. Tony had sworn to her that he wouldn't kill Tohsaka when they faced off, which was the only reason she'd even agreed to this plan to lure the girl out in the first place.

Granted, Tony had managed to go through the whole war so far without using a Command Seal on her and she doubted that he wanted to break that streak. They worked well together and Tony, despite what he'd done to Shinji, was a good man. After all, he wasn't the only one with blood on his hands.

She forced away the distracting thought and continued to herd Dresden. It wouldn't due to get distracted when dealing the wizard who made a regular habit of proving the power of underdogs.

Harry wasn't making it easy for her. He dodged with surprising speed and sent several spells her way in response to her arrows. Jets of flame, spikes of ice, and blasts of force met her arrows and flew in her direction.

She dodged and weaved through the air on her magical wings and was almost hit several times.

She stopped moving for a moment and drew another arrow. Chaotic magical energy suddenly ripped through the air around her and she felt her wings suddenly vanish from her back.

Sinon's eyes grew wide and she began to fall as gravity reasserted itself on her. _How?_ she thought. _How did he take my wings away?_

There was a surge of mana from Harry's direction which could only mean one of two things: He was preparing a big shot, or he was about to use his Noble Phantasm.

Sinon tried to use her wings again out of reflex and they rematerialized as she tried to use them. She quickly regained control of her fall and began to climb in the air. So he hadn't completely destroyed them. He'd simply interrupted their use with some kind of spell.

It was a terrifying reminder that even though she knew his name and his story that there were plenty of tricks she couldn't expect. Kirito had figured out how to cut bullets from the air and then turned that trick into spell-blasting in ALfheim Online. It wasn't unreasonable to assume that Dresden couldn't stop a spell or magical ability.

 _ **"Cold Days!"**_ Dresden shouted. _"Molly! Cover me!"_ Another figure, a young woman, appeared next to Harry and they went in separate directions.

 _Crap,_ Sinon thought. _So he can call on allies._ What on Earth _was_ that Phantasm? It wasn't a weapon or even really a name. She was missing something important, and that wasn't good.

 _Which one should I go for? The ally or him?_

She took off after Dresden. If she took him out then his Phantasm would stop. She shot him several times and the arrows buried themselves into Dresden's back and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Sinon blinked in complete surprise. _Unless you're firing something military grade you're never gettin' past that duster he wears,_ Tony had told her. _The leather is enchanted to act like heavy armor. Knives, claws, and even most bullets will just bounce off of it._

 _What happened?_ she thought. She focused on the prone form, her eyes beginning to glow as she tapped into her Awareness skill. According to Tony, the skill had a different name in the grail system, but she preferred the GGO designation. Dresden's prone form suddenly became translucent and her arrows were actually stabbed into the ground.

Her eyes went wide and she rotated in time to get slammed with force equivalent to a car going maybe 50 miles an hour. The archer went spinning through the air and impacted with a sturdy tree several yards away.

"Ha ha!" came Dresden's voice from further in the forest. The pitch of his voice was different, as if he was imitating someone with a higher voice than his own.

Sinon let out a quick breath of annoyance and got back to her feet. She kept her Awareness active, eyes flicking around to spot the hidden wizard. There was a flicker of movement behind some cover.

Sinon's hands shot up and her Hecate rifle was in her hands. If Dresden was going to hide behind an illusion, then she'd just use something that was too fast even for him to stop.

 _ **"Hecate,"**_ she said and fired in that direction. The rifle kicked powerfully and the shot flew in that direction.

She caught the sound of a curse word as the form barely managed to dodge the attack, which meant he'd _wanted_ her to switch to her rifle and had been waiting for it. "Molly, now!"

A woman's voice rang out and Sinon was suddenly blinded by a barrage of light, sound, and sensation. Trees warped and lit on fire, and then pits opened up under her, and then there was a loud shrieking sound that made her ears feel like they were going to explode.

Sinon let out a cry of pain and shot into the air. The barrage of sensation, imagery, and noise followed her ascension. Even with her Awareness skill, there was so much happening around her that her vision became all but useless to her. It was as if heavily fogged glass had been placed over her eyes.

She shouted a word Tony had given her, and her perception suddenly expanded into more than five simple senses. Her Master had spent years studying bounded fields and what kinds of effects could be built into them. One of the handier techniques he figured out was how to create extrasensory fields that allowed a person to track and see things through other forces than simple sight or sound.

As his Servant, Sinon had the ability to piggyback off of his connection to the bounded fields he'd created and use them to assist her as well.

Veils and illusions were powerful if used correctly, and this Molly person had that part down to a science apparently, but they didn't take everything into account.

Sinon could feel the impact of feet on the ground as the inhabitants of the field moved their way around it. She could sense the air around the various bounded field traps Tony had left scattered around the park. The park itself became her eyes, ears, and skin.

She could sense Tony and Tohsaka battling each other where they'd met. She could also sense Dresden and the woman he'd called to his aid with his Noble Phantasm. She could also sense the strange foreboding atmosphere of the burned out park. She could feel the darkness from its history and could almost smell the ashes from that fire in the air.

With the confidence of long practice, Sinon turned in the air and leveled her rifle at her target. The young woman was under her own veil now, but that didn't hide the feeling of the grass her feet pressed into with her weight.

Between one heartbeat and the next, Sinon pulled the trigger of her cold, metal rifle and put the .50 caliber round right into Molly's chest.

Sinon didn't like killing people. Hell, before GGO and the B.O.B. she couldn't even stand the sight of someone holding their fingers out like a gun. But these Servants were more like gamer avatars. They were the memories of heroes who had been given a new, temporary form to battle with each other for a prize.

The Grail war was a lot like the B.O.B. battle royale, if she thought about it. The Masters were the players and their Servants were their avatars, and she didn't have any problems killing people in the virtual world. Just like a game avatar, Sinon's bullet went through the girl's chest and she promptly vanished into sparks of light.

The streams of light, sound, and sensation vanished instantly and Sinon focused her aim on the now exposed caster. _One shot_ , she thought as she pulled back the action of her Hecate. _One kill._

There was the sound of a blistering curse word and then Tony's voice rang out. " _Ardent Silver!_ "

Through the scope of her rifle, Sinon saw Tony making his way toward Dresden, his silver six-shooter in his hand and firing as rapidly as it could allow. Judging from Tony's posture, he was angry. Something must've gone wrong with his fight with Tohsaka if he was coming to Sinon's assistance.

Dresden whirled to face Tony and brought his shield to bear against the magical shots. Sinon locked her target into her sights. The shield wouldn't stop her shot at all.

She pulled the trigger.

Few things are faster than a bullet in flight. A bullet from a Hecate II rifle travels two times faster than the speed of sound.

Light travels faster than a bullet. It travels so fast that it took humanity millenia before it even realized that light travelled at all.

Theoretically, thoughts moved faster than light. The problem with testing that hypothesis was that in order to convey a thought, it had to be spoken or written or otherwise physically indicated. And those actions were infinitely slower than even sound.

And, apparently, magic also moved faster than a bullet. Because as the round cut through the air to end Dresden's existence, he vanished in a flash of blue light and a twisting of space that could only have been the result of a Command Seal.

Sinon watched the bullet drive itself into the now empty ground and she relaxed. Rin and Dresden weren't in the field any longer. Tohsaka must have used a Command Seal to pull the caster away from the danger.

"Damnit!" Tony cursed as Sinon landed.

"I guess your fight didn't go the way you hoped it would," Sinon commented.

"I forgot the goddamn potion!" Tony complained. "The first freaking book too! An escape potion that turns you into the wind. If I'd pinned her arms right she wouldn't have been able to get away."

Sinon's brow furrowed. "The first book?" she mused. "Do the words 'Cold Days' mean anything to you?"

"No. Why?"

"Dresden said them," Sinon explained. "Right before he called that Molly person."

"Molly?" Tony asked. Cold Days might not have meant anything to him, but the name definitely was familiar to him. "Carpenter?"

"I don't know," Sinon answered. "All he called her was Molly."

Tony looked back toward the edge of the field. "I think," he said. "I might have just figured out how his Noble Phantasm works."

* * *

 **Author's note: Heyo! Guess who's back! And now the Cowboy has been formally introduced to Rin. Boy, that was close for both of them. I really enjoyed writing this battle. Trying to think about how Sinon and Dresden would approach the fight and how I could make it interesting. Sadly, the battle got off to a fair start, so less advantages for the wizard. Oh well, there's always next time.**

 **AmethystPone: True, an actual war between the Council and the Association wouldn't be so cut and dry. It was more that Harry wanted to make a point about the Association. I'm also rather impressed with how thoroughly you considered the matter. I think the only thing you missed was that for every wizard that is killed, there's a Death Curse to take into account. I also think there are more Wardens than Enforcers, but that's a discussion we can have another time. :)  
** **Sorry about the chapter length. You're correct in that's really just how my style is, although my average chapter has grown longer as I've worked on this story. I think this is also my longest chapter yet.**

 **Abciluvpie: Honestly, I just wanted to use Saber for those scenes more than Link. Plus, Saber doesn't have pointed ears.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	47. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

 _The best training program in the world is absolutely worthless without the will to execute it properly, consistently, and with intensity._ \- John Romaniello

Shirou was making dinner when Rin and Harry entered the living room, he and Link had gone and gotten groceries on their way back from the hospital. Rin's posture was stiff and she looked annoyed. Even Harry looked to be lost in thought.

Saber, who was sitting at the table, glanced over at the new arrivals. Link was sprawled out on the ground and watching the television absently.

"Is everything alright, Rin?" she asked. "You weren't here when we came back from visiting Taiga."

"Rin's just annoyed that there's someone better at something than she is," Harry answered.

"I am not," Rin said, still sulking. "He just acts like this war is like some big game."

"He?" Link asked, glancing to Rin.

"That stupid Cowboy," she snapped. "Barnett."

"Did something happen?" Saber asked.

"He faked a phone call from Shirou so we could go somewhere exposed," Harry answered.

"So why does Rin look like someone kicked a puppy in front of her?" Link asked. Rin gave him a look which Link only grinned at.

"Sinon and her Master were the ones who set the trap and we decided to spring it back on them," Harry continued. "And things didn't go quite so well."

At the mention of the second Archer, Link's grin vanished and he looked wary. "Oh," he said. "How're you still alive, Harry? I _barely_ survived fighting her."

"I got lucky," he answered and didn't elaborate. Rin crossed her arms as she sat down and Shirou noted the blue Command Seals on her hand. The outer ring of the pentacle had faded into near invisibility. So that was how she'd done it.

"Okay then," Link said and turned off the tv. "So what did you learn?"

"His name is Anthony Barnett," Rin said. "I went to my house and tried to do some digging through my families' notes on mage families. The Barnetts are a very old family, but they're not part of the Association. Other than that, there wasn't a lot of information. Whoever they are, they've certainly given the Cowboy the run of combat magic. He also has a knack for bounded fields, or so he claims.

"He's going to be difficult to stop, but our priority should still be Caster for the time being. Once she's gone, we'll be able to put all our resources into stopping him and Sinon. No matter how good they are, they won't be able to stop all three of us working together. Four if we can get Pyrrha in on the fight."

At the mention of the Lancer, Shirou flashed back to the reaction from Fuji-nee in the hospital. He turned his attention back to finishing the meal.

"Assuming that they haven't planned for that too, sure," Link said. "He's always had a plan in place whenever he's shown up. And the fact that Sinon is deadly at extreme range only gives him a greater advantage. By now, she'll probably just stick to using her rifle now that she's shown it off a couple of times."

"We'll just have to burn that bridge when we get to it," Harry replied.

"Have you found a way to track down Caster's master yet, Harry?" Saber asked.

The wizard shook his head. "Nothing concrete. Without anything to work with, all I can do is try to keep track of Caster's actions and try to glean something from them."

"How's Miss Fujimura?" Rin asked.

"Her usual self," Shirou answered from the kitchen.

"And she might have given us a lead on Caster," Link added.

"Taiga?" Harry asked, sounding incredulous. "How?"

"Apparently there were a couple of people we know who weren't in or affected by the field when it was raised," Link answered.

"A classmate named Issei and your teacher, Mr. Kuzuki," Saber added.

"And guess which one has been making his way from the temple to school every day, despite the fact that it's closed?" Link continued.

"She would need someone from the temple to serve as a Master," Rin mused. "And if Mr. Kuzuki has been staying at the temple, then it might be him."

"Guy seems dedicated to his job," Harry said. "If he keeps showing up even though Rider blasted a hallway into pieces."

"Must be a routine," Link commented. "Or he doesn't get out much."

"There's a simple way to find out," Rin said. "All we'll have to do is ambush him on his way back from the school."

"Wait!" Shirou said. "Are we certain it's him? What if it's just a coincidence?"

"I don't believe in them, personally," Harry said. He held up one finger. "Second Assassin was in the school with you while the Bloodfort was up. That means his Master had to be somewhere nearby." He held up a second finger. "Ezio was also at the temple when Caster pulled you to it, Shirou. Given that he participated in the Bloodfort, that means one of the Servants that has a direct connection to Caster is connected to your school." He held up a third finger."Our suspects are Issei and Kuzuki, both of whom stay at the temple and were missing during the attack. Where were they?"

"Issei was absent," Shirou answered. He'd checked up on his friend by phone after they'd left the hospital. Saber and Link both thought it was too risky to go to the temple, even in daylight, while Caster still roamed free.

"So that leaves us with one one option," Harry replied. "All we have to do is test him. If we jump him and if Caster or either Assassin comes to his aid, then we take them down. If nothing happens, then we just make our exit."

"How do you even check someone as a Master?" Shirou asked.

"I'll just hit him with a light Gandr shot," Rin said. "If he's not a Master, he'll just have the sniffles for a few days."

"The guy could probably use a break anyway," Link commented.

"There," Harry said. "Now it's a public service. An enforced vacation." Shirou continued to look uncomfortable. Issei had always spoken well of Mr. Kuzuki, the two of them apparently having a connection that Shirou hadn't explored, and Issei's instincts about people had a tendency to be right. Well, except for his impression of Rin.

Harry sighed, noting Shirou discomfort. "Shirou, when it comes to doing an investigation you have to run down any leads you can get. This is a lot more than we had five minutes ago. If he's not our guy we can at least cross him off the list."

"We can test him tomorrow night," Rin said. "It's too late to try tonight and that will give us time to prepare and for Harry to recover from the battle today."

* * *

Evening training with Saber was just as intense as it usually was. Not because of the fight. If anything, Shirou seemed to be doing surprisingly well this time around. No, what made the fight more intense was the number of people watching.

Link was in his usual position on the sidelines, but both Illya and Pyrrha had opted to watch as well. Pyrrha, at least, had requested if she could watch whereas Illya had simply walked in and joined them without even asking.

Saber's strikes came hard, but Shirou was anticipating the impacts and motions far more readily than he had in previous bouts. His motions also were coming far more fluid and practiced, the strange way his body seemed to know how to fight becoming even more apparent than it had before.

He still, unfortunately, didn't win any of the bouts. Saber slammed her wooden sword straight into Shirou's gut as he swung and he collapsed to the ground gasping. Illya made a thoughtful sound, her head tilted curiously to one side. Pyrrha had her head tilted in the other direction, looking thoughtful. Link just smiled.

"Is this really how you go about training?" Illya asked. Shirou looked up at the Einzbern and Saber turned to face her. "It seems to me," the girl continued. "Saber's either going easy on you or just not in the mood to fight. Either way, she's holding back."

Saber's cheeks turned slightly pink. "I'd never hold back in a fight!" she declared.

"Uumm," Pyrrha said softly. "I actually think you were, Saber." Saber gave Pyrrha a look. "I'm sorry!" the Lancer said, with a speed akin to reflex. "It's just, there were a lot of openings you could have taken advantage of. I saw you note them, but you didn't move to take advantage of them. It was like you were pulling your strikes at the very last second. Like you were afraid of making contact with him."

"Now that they mention it," Shirou said. "You do seem more passive than usual, Saber." Saber gave Shirou an incredulous look.

"I didn't go easy on you, Shirou," Saber said. "I acted as I always do. On a level just above your own."

"But you certainly didn't strike as hard as you could have," Pyrrha noted. "I've watched you two train before, and you didn't deliver your blows as hard as you did then."

"Come on, Saber," Shirou said. "If you don't come at me head-on, I'm never going to get any better. And I know I have to be better."

"Do you really want me to come at you head on? I-if I do that," Saber continued, stumbling slightly over the words. "It means that in the course of a fight… we could have out bodies colliding with each other."

"Yeah, so what?" Shirou asked. "That's sparring. It comes with the territory. You used to tackle me away whenever I got in too close."

"I did?" Saber asked, her cheeks turning more pink.

"Yep," Link answered, smiling. Saber seemed to grow more embarrassed at that and shot Link an annoyed look.

"I could help," Pyrrha suggested cautiously. "I helped train Jaune in sword fighting. I could take over if you need a break, Saber."

"No," Saber said, quickly and sternly. "I can do it." She brought her weapon into stance once again, her cheeks still slightly flushed.

Pyrrha and Link glanced at each other while Illya watched dubiously.

The practice continued to be awkward until Saber and Shirou finished for the evening and Saber, Pyrrha, and Illya all left. Link stopped Shirou after the women had left and gave him a serious look.

"You do understand _why_ she was holding back, right?" he asked.

"No?" he answered, confused. "I guess she just wasn't in the mood today." Link stared at Shirou for a long time, his expression blank. "What?" Shirou finally asked.

"I just can't believe how dense you can be, Shirou," he answered and then left without another word, shaking his head.

Shirou stood there, baffled at what that had meant. Eventually, he cleaned up the dojo and made his way to the bathroom. At least he could clean up before heading to work on his magecraft with Rin and Harry. He'd worked up quite a sweat sparring with Saber, despite her holding back. Rin would probably yell at him for coming to her covered in sweat from his workout.

He stripped in the dressing room and made his way into the bathroom. It took him a second to notice the sudden change in temperature. Odd, the bathroom was much hotter than the cold hallway outside. As he opened the door to the shower, he heard the sound of water a second too late to realize what was happening.

"Shirou?" someone asked.

His gaze fell onto the full bathtub, and the very naked Saber that was bathing. Shirou's brain switched off at the sight. He couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't think.

Some far corner of his dead brain reminded him that this had happened once already. It also noted that he was also naked, and that there was nothing to hide his body's reaction to the sight before him.

"Uh… Saber…" he said. Saber simply stared at him in complete shock, her eyes very wide. He had to act quickly, to explain before she grew angry. Once could be understood as a mistake. Twice implied… otherwise. And the last thing he needed today was for _that_ misunderstanding to happen.

"Sorry, it was my fault," Shirou said, instinctive self-preservation allowing his stunned mind to operate even though it was still suffering from shock. "I just wanted to use the shower. I should've remembered that you'd want to use it too. I know I should've noticed beforehand, but…"

Shirou slowly made his way back to the dressing room, where his clothes and escape were located. He couldn't stop staring. He remembered the night back in the forest. The lighting wasn't the greatest, so he didn't see Saber in as intimate detail as he did now. That had been a night made of sensation more than sight.

"A-anyway, I'll talk to you later," he said and reached behind himself for the door. The memory of what had happened was not making his body's reaction to Saber any better.

"... Excuse me, Shirou," Saber said, her voice low and embarrassed. "This is a selfish request, but would it be possible for you to stay away for awhile?" She turned her gaze away from Shirou as she spoke, her cheeks becoming flushed.

Shirou felt his own cheeks heat in response, confusion bouncing around the empty space where his brain normally functioned. "Uh… why…?" he half asked, half thought.

Saber bent her head in greater apology. _Why isn't she getting mad at me?_ he thought.

"Please use the shower at another time. I… wish for you to allow me to use it for myself for now." Saber curled her body, as if trying to use the water as an armor to hide her body.

Her attitude was different from what Shirou remembered. Last time, she hadn't shown any concern for her sex or her nakedness. In fact, she had specifically told him to ignore them and look at her.

Shirou mumbled something, trying to get his brain to work again. What he eventually said was: "You're not mad?"

"It's natural for you to want to wash up before meeting with Rin," Saber said.

Some part of his brain had managed to come back and he found himself saying: "But… that could mean that I could use the shower right now…"

 _Wait,_ _what the hell am I saying?_ Shirou thought in alarm. He tried to beat his brain into something like working order so that he wouldn't slip up like he just had.

"I'm saying that… um…" Saber replied, lowered her head in greater embarrassment. "The problem isn't being seen naked. But my body is not like that of a girl such as Rin. So…" Saber's cheeks became redder. "So I don't want you to look at me. Such a muscular body is likely unsightly."

Shirou spoke out of reflex. "That's stupid, don't be… don't be ridiculous." He couldn't continue his train of thought. He wasn't sure if he trusted himself if he did. Saber's body was built of lithe muscle and didn't possess the same curves and proportions of Rin's body, but it was still breathtaking.

"Shirou," Saber said. "I wish to be alone for right now."

Shirou nodded and quickly left, simply redressing and going to find Rin and Harry. He'd shower after the magic practice. Where it would hopefully be less awkward.

* * *

 **Author's note: Shorter chapter today and not all that much going on. Awkward, thy name is Shirou/Saber. I feel kind of bad about how short this chapter is (and how long it took to post today), so I'm going to be doing something special for this week and I will be posting the next chapter early. So keep an eye out on Wednesday for magic practice with our favorite tsundere and her wizard. I've got something special planned for that. :)**

 **Lord of Memory: Slowly but surely, we draw closer to more of the UBW based content. We still have some of the fun Fate content to get through though, and I'm sure you're going to enjoy what I have planned.**

 **Jackelgull: There's always another secret. :)**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.  
** **Thanks for reading!**

 **P.S. We're** _ **so close**_ **to one hundred favorites!** _ **So close!**_


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

 _The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates._ \- William Arthur Wat

Rin was alone in her room when Shirou entered. She fixed him with a hard look and her eyes moved up and down him critically. He could see the calculation in her eyes and felt certain that she was about to berate him for the very thing he had been trying to solve not a few minutes ago.

"I've been thinking," she said, her tone harder than normal. "And I have to be sure. Is what you told Link the other day true?" she demanded. "You haven't felt any repercussions from that projection you did in the forest?"

Shirou blinked. "I don't feel anything wrong," he assured her, surprised. Hadn't they cleared this up already? Rin narrowed her eyes and suddenly grabbed Shirou's arm. He noticed that Rin was wearing one of the white gloves she'd gotten recently.

She said a word he didn't understand and he felt something like an electrical current shoot through his body. He jolted slightly and met her eyes.

Shirou's brain stuttered out again. She was staring at him with the same intensity as she had that night. Back when she'd said she'd do anything in order to stay alive. It brought back the memory of what had happened not too long later, and the role she had played in it.

"This is impossible," she murmured. "There really is nothing wrong. Everything's flowing perfectly." Rin's warm breath brushed against his cheek. "I thought you might've been hiding it, but there really isn't any problem."

"Hey," Shirou objected weakly as Rin ran her gloved hand up Shirou's arm. There was another small jolt and Shirou pulled his arm away. "Stop that! T-that's enough, Tohsaka." He backed up and found a chair to sit on away from Rin.

"Hey," Rin objected. "I'm checking to make sure you haven't damaged… Oh, I see…" Rin took a step closer to Shirou. "Your face is awfully red, Emiya. Is something else wrong?" Her lips moved into an evil smile.

Shirou was going to die at this rate. First he walked in on Saber naked, again, and now Rin was teasing him because of his reaction. If Sakura or Pyrrha came at him with the same tactic, he'd probably drop dead on the spot.

The door to Rin's room slammed open and a voice bellowed: "What do you two think you're doing?!"

Rin stiffened, let out an 'eep', and turned red, like a teen caught doing something they weren't supposed to by their parents. She and Shirou looked to see Harry standing in the doorway, a smirk of his own on his face. Then he started to laugh at the look on Rin's face.

Rin grimaced in annoyance. "You're the worst, Dresden."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Last name. I must've really gotten you." Rin stalked her way to another chair and Harry entered the room.

"So," he said, shutting the door. "We need to figure out this projection business."

"Yes," Rin said, now all business. "This is outside of my specialty, so the most I could do is offer advice."

"Shirou, you said you used to practice projection magic," Harry said.

"Yes," he answered. "It was never as fast as I did against Berserker, but I followed the same steps. Kiritsugu said that it was basically useless and encouraged me to go into reinforcement instead."

Harry glanced at Rin. "I would've advised the same thing," she said. "Reinforcement builds off of something that's already there, so reality doesn't chip away at it the same way it does a projection. A projection is something that is put into the world, so the countering force is greater. Projections are typically used during rituals to replace objects that couldn't be brought in time."

"But that can't be true," Shirou said. "It's even easier than reinforcement."

Harry pointed a finger at Shirou. "That's because you have a talent for it, like I said earlier. But even counting on that, you pulled a Noble Phantasm out of thin air. That's more than simple talent, kid. You've got something special."

"Special?" Shirou asked. "Like what?"

"That's what we're going to find out," Harry said. He lifted a hand his staff appeared there. "Why don't we start with something basic? Can you make a copy of my staff? There's nothing overly special about it, so projecting it isn't very likely to kill you."

Shirou gulped at the comment, but he wanted to know what he could really do. If he could master this projection, it could become truly useful.

He stared at the staff in Dresden's hand. It was about six feet long and made of oak. Runes and sigils were carved into the length of wood. Shirou didn't recognize any of them, but there was still an air of familiarity to the staff's design.

He closed his eyes and imagined the staff. He cut away the image of the wizard and the room they were sitting in and focused solely on the length of wood.

He pictured a branch being taken from an oak tree.

He imagined the structure of the branch, and realized that he was suddenly viewing it as if he'd traced it before reinforcement.

He took that mental image and imagined Harry cutting away the excess wood and then sanding and carving the staff that he'd made from that branch.

He pictured the completed product, and tried to envision Harry facing down a creature with the staff in hand.

He put himself in the wizard's place.

" _Trace on_ ," he said and pulled the trigger.

His body burned with the rush of mana that moved through him. Something seemed to push back against him. There was a resistance, not from the outside, but within himself. Some of the energy refused to leave his body as it began to coalesce and he suddenly felt tired. Like he'd run up a steep hill to get home.

There was a flash of silver light and then there was a weight in his right hand. Shirou opened his eyes and saw a wooden staff gripped in his hand.

He glanced over at Harry, who had an eyebrow raised. He set his own staff aside and gestured for the one Shirou held.

The wizard gripped it with both hands and examined it closely. Then he opened the door and stuck one end out.

 _"Fozzare,"_ he said and a blast of force shot from the staff and flew into the yard. He pulled it back in and the staff faded away as the door closed. "Huh," he said. "I guess it worked."

"How do you feel, Emiya?" Rin asked.

"Tired," Shirou admitted. "There was… It almost felt like something was pushing against me when I was trying to picture the staff."

Rin and Harry glanced at each other. "I don't know what he's talking about," Rin said. "This is outside of my area." She eyed Shirou. "It's possible that there's something about you that has trouble with projection."

Shirou shook his head. "No, it wasn't like that. I described it wrong. I just couldn't picture it well enough."

"You pictured it well enough for me to use it," Harry replied. "There's a nice hole in the yard to prove it too."

"You shot a hole in my yard?" Shirou asked. Harry shrugged.

"A ball of force is going to go until it hits something," he said. "I'd rather not accidentally knock an airliner out of the sky. I was bad enough with planes when I wasn't trying to ground them."

Which, Shirou had to admit, was a pretty fair point. It wasn't like a divot in the yard was hard to fix anyway.

"But why would there be any sort of resistance?" Rin asked. "Either a spell works or it doesn't. Reality might break it down at a different rate, but it doesn't force it back on you like that. Unless..." Rin put a hand to her chin in thought. "Unless the resistance is something internal. Something about you not agreeing with what you're trying to do."

Harry suddenly tilted his head, as if he'd just heard something. "Did you feel this resistance when you projected Caliburn?" he asked. Shirou shook his head and Harry's expression grew thoughtful. "That must be important," he murmured. "You can project a Noble Phantasm, but have trouble with something as simple as a staff."

Rin and Harry each fixed him with an intense look.

"What?" he asked, suddenly very nervous.

"Do you know what your Origin and Element are, Emiya?" Rin asked.

Shirou gave her a baffled look.

"Everyone has a kind of affinity with the elements," she explained. "Some people have an affinity with air or fire, while others have odd affinities with different forces. This is called a person's Element. The more removed from one of the five elements it is, the rarer it is.

"Origin is… far more personal. It's a concept that reflects part of your core. You can learn a lot about yourself when you learn your Origin, even things you might not want to know."

"Okay," Shirou answered slowly. "What does that mean about this?"

"A mage who knows what their Origin is can create magic directly tied to that Origin and can create spells that are keyed specifically to that concept. It's possible that your Origin or Element is allowing you to work with something as potent as a Noble Phantasm without an obvious side effect."

"So we just have to figure out what my… Origin is?" Shirou asked.

"It might be helpful," Rin answered carefully. "But learning your Origin can be dangerous. You might discover that you're connected to a concept that is terrible. Mages have gone insane while learning their Origins before."

"Oh," Shirou answered.

"But the ritual to learn one's Origin is complicated and expensive," Rin continued. "I doubt we'd be able to gather the materials any time soon."

There was a long moment of silence before Harry spoke up. "There might be another way," he said. He didn't look overly pleased as he faced Shirou directly. "It's possible I might be able to glean something during a soulgaze. Your Origin is supposed to be a part of who you are, after all."

Shirou glanced at the wizard. "You don't look too happy about it," he said.

Harry grimaced. "Soulgazes are… intense. You saw that much when Rin and I did it. And it's not going to go away. Ever. You and I are stuck with whatever we see."

Shirou thought back to Rin's reaction to the soulgaze. She hadver nearly passed out after the experience, and she was a fairly composed person. What would it do to him? _Then again,_ Shirou thought. _It's not like I haven't had my fair share of unforgettable circumstances. How bad could this one be?_

"What do I do?" he asked.

Harry met Shirou's eyes and waited for the soulgaze to begin. As intense as a soulgaze could be, he had to admit some curiosity. Shirou was interesting. He didn't care for his own safety and was hell-bent on doing anything he could to help others in any way her could.

It was odd, and he should know. He'd acted that way himself on a number of occasions. So what made Shirou Emiya commit himself to this path? Of course, that commitment could destroy Harry's sanity.

 _Too late now,_ he thought as the soulgaze began.

He stood upon a hill at sunrise, a soft breeze that smelled faintly of cinder and iron blowing past him as the light of the rising sun broke the edge of the horizon. As far as his eyes could see, swords stood up from the grass covered ground.

 _I am the bone of my sword._

Uncounted blades, from horizon to horizon: blades that gave off such twisted energies that his hair stood on end; blades of such pure intent that he felt as though he was back in Karrin's arms, her hands running through his hair; blades that called out to him in whispers, offering words of encouragement, of soothing; blades that stood like death markers, a totem of someone's fall or the deliverance of death and justice.

 _Steel is my body and glass is my heart._

As the dawn continued to rise, the golden light of the sun reflected off of the massive, hazy gears and clockworks on the edge of sight, making the sunlight fall onto a small collection of weapons and armor directly in front of his eye.

 _I have created over a thousand blades_

A sword of purest gold resting point down in a small square stone. Leaning against the blade, as if it was the only object that could stand on its own, was a matching sheath of blue and gold that glowed with an inner radiance. The warmth of that light brought memories of home and rest. Nights spent in front of the fire, reading a good paperback with Mister on his lap.

 _A..r..-of..-s_

Barely a foot away from the Sword of Promised Victory stood a bluish-silver blade, its winged purple hilt glittering with the rising dawn as a silver colored shield leaned against it, a now familiar coat of arms clearly visible on its surface.

 _An-...p-..fu.-..ga..._

As he turned to continue to look over the green landscape, he noticed his own wizard's staff standing tall and proud from the hill, a small circle of frost surrounding it as a familiar cruciform sword longsword rested on a small stone altar not a foot away.

 _Have withstood pain to create uncounted weapons_

He continued to turn and the sunlight shone off of a red and bronze spear embedded into the hill, a bronze circular shield leaned on its side against it creating a familiar image.

 _Ever st-... t-w..-.- u-.t..-_

Near the top of the hill was a small weapon, almost invisible when compared the the giant blades nearby. An Azoth dagger that he'd seen once before in a similar soul-searing moment of time. While small in size, the dagger gave off its own aura of stubborn pride that cowed any weapon near it.

 _I ha-.-.- -.-.- re-..-_

He saw Shirou himself standing atop the hill. He was dressed in his usual clothing, his jacket rippling in the breeze as his hands clutched a massive black bow. He was taller than the Shirou he'd seen, but his posture and the intensity that radiated off of him left no doubt that it was Shirou Emiya.

 _This is the only path_

Twin falchions stood up from the ground on either side of him, one white and one black, their hilts leaning toward each other like lovers trying to reach across an impassible void.

He heard the gears in the sky begin to turn and the wind suddenly picked up into a storm of blades.

 _My life —..-..as.—.s..-U-...-I..—-.B—.-e..-r-ks._

The soulgaze ended and the wizard and mage stared at each other for a moment.

"Harry," Shirou said. "You… You did that to…"

Harry closed his eyes. "I've done a lot of things, Shirou," he said. "Some of which I'm not particularly proud of." He opened his eyes and fixed Shirou with a hard look. "It's hell you're walking into. I hope you know that."

Rin glanced from one of them to the other. "Did you learn anything?" she asked.

"I saw swords," Harry and Shirou said at the exact same time.

"Swords?" Rin asked, completely taken aback by the response.

"I saw a field of swords," Harry said. "Including a few recognizable ones, like Link's and Saber's."

Rin gave Shirou another look. "Was there anything in your workshop that you had an easier time reinforcing than normal?" she asked carefully.

Shirou tilted his head. "Easier? Well, there was that pocket knife. I've always had a better time with bladed objects."

"Then I think we can safely guess that you have a connection to swords," she said. "It's likely your Origin. Your Element might be something in the same area. Maybe Fire or something like Metal."

"Okay," Harry said. "Then try to project a sword. Something less powerful than Caliburn."

Shirou closed his eyes again. _I need to picture a sword,_ he thought. _Not a Noble Phantasm, but something strong and beautiful._ He suddenly remembered the twin falchions that Archer always carried.

One white and one black blade, inversions of each other, but also partners, like two sides of the same coin. He saw them clearly in his mind, as if he was looking at them in that moment. They were right there, just within reach.

He was about to pull the trigger when he remembered another blade. Something he'd seen in a dream, like Caliburn. It called to him, taunted him and Shirou's competitive streak suddenly surged forward. He wanted to hold that sword, like he had Caliburn.

It came so easily to his mind. The image was so clear he could see his own reflection in the silvery blade. The eight steps ran through him almost of their own will and Shirou pulled the trigger.

" _Trace on,_ " he said, tricking his mind into believing it _could_ reproduce such a work of art.

The winged purple hilt of the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane became a familiar weight in his left hand as it appeared in a flash of silver light. It had to be the left hand, that was what the sword remembered.

Shirou suddenly realized that he was on his feet, the sword held in the stance Link always favored. Rin and Harry were staring at him with both shock and annoyance.

"What?" Shirou asked, flicking the sword in a quick and controlled sequence and moving it to his back to put the sword in its sheath. When the cold metal touched his back, he jumped, realizing he didn't have a sheath strapped there like he'd instinctively expected.

"Harry _just_ told you not to project a Noble Phantasm, Emiya!" Rin shouted. "Can't you even follow simple directions?!"

"I'm sorry!" Shirou said, cringing at the vehemence in Rin's outburst. The Master Sword faded away into silver and green sparks. "It just. It was like it _wanted_ to be made. I got competitive."

"With a sword in your head?" Rin asked.

"How're you feeling, Shirou?" Harry asked.

"Fine," he answered.

Dresden pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Stars and stones, can you be any more oblivious to what I asked you? Why do you think I just asked you that?"

"Uh," Shirou said. Then he got it. "That was another Noble Phantasm," he answered. "Which went off without a hitch."

"While you had trouble projecting something as simple as a wooden stick," Harry finished. He stood up. "I'll be right back," he said and left the room.

Shirou looked at Rin, who was giving him a rather hostile look and decided it was better to wait quietly. Harry was back in a moment and he held up the bleached human skull that Shirou had spotted in his workshop.

"Bob," he said. "What am I looking at here?"

"Besides another magic nerd and an essence of proportionally balanced perfection?" the skull asked, orange lights shining in the eye sockets. The eyelights glanced at Rin as it finished its sentence.

Rin shot the skull a look. "Well, you are," it told her. "Everything is arranged-"

"Bob!" Harry snapped. "Focus on the magic nerd please."

"Fah," Bob said and turned his eyelights over toward Shirou. "I never get to look at anything… Well, that's odd." Bob's eyes flicked toward Harry. "You're sure that's a person standing there?"

"Yes," Harry answered tersely. "Why?"

"Because it looks like a jumble swords holding something human shaped together," Bob answered.

"What does that mean?" Shirou asked, trying to work out if that was supposed to be an insult.

"It means you're a sword," Bob answered. "Sorry, kid. It looks like your parents were actually a claymore and an anvil."

"That doesn't make any sense," Harry said, putting the skull on Rin's bed. "He's human."

"He _looks_ human," Bob corrected. "But his aura is nothing but swords and burn marks. I'm surprised he doesn't poke holes in everybody that runs up and gives him a hug."

One of Rin's eyes began to twitch and her face flushed with anger. "You have got to be kidding me," she growled. "You really are just impossible, aren't you, Emiya?"

"What does that mean?" Shirou asked.

"Weren't you paying attention?" she demanded. "The spirit just called you a sword. You don't realize what that means?"

"No," Shirou answered.

"It's not just your Origin that's Sword, Shirou," Rin snapped. "It's probably your Element too. That makes you an Incarnation! You're a human shaped sword!" She slammed her hand into her desk in a gesture of pure frustration. "There's been an Incarnation sitting in this city for years and I missed it! Something so unique it barely heard of and it's Shirou Emiya!"

"Rules, Rin," Harry said, his voice stern. Rin froze in her rant and her eyes widened for just a moment in an expression of shock and… horror? Then she let out a long breath, her shoulders relaxing.

"Wow," Bob suddenly chimed in, drawing out the word in appreciation. "I didn't realize you were so attractive when you're angry. It's actually rather becoming."

Rin shot the skull a look and then grabbed it and stalked over to the door. "Um," the skull said, nervously. "What are you doing?" Rin opened her door and then drop-kicked the skull the skull into the yard. Bob shouted something at Rin in a language Shirou didn't understand as he flew through the air, but Rin slammed the door shut and moved back to her chair.

"Well," Harry said. "I guess that means we're done for the evening."

"Wait," Shirou said. "What does being an Incarnation mean?"

"Your Origin and Element can have an effect on your magecraft," Rin answered, her tone terse. "Your spells can be more effective if you work with magic that relates to them. The closer your Origin and Element are to each other, the more specialized a mage is forced to be. Magic outside of those forces tends to be much more difficult to do. The flip side is that magic that is within your Origin and Element are much more powerful and you can do things that other mages can't without considerable effort, or will kill themselves trying to match."

"In other words," Harry said. "You're never going to be able to do even half of what Rin can manage. But if you practice any sort of magic that can connect to a sword…"

"Then you'll be able to do things that no one can ever replicate," Rin answered.

Shirou got it. "Like project Noble Phantasms," he said.

"Yes," Rin said. "You're special, Emiya. And that can be dangerous. More dangerous than you know."

A cold feeling ran down Shirou's spine at the tone of Rin's voice. "What does that mean?"

"It means that if the Association finds out what you can do," Rin told him. "They'll never leave you alone. Worst case scenario, they'll put a sealing designation on you and either kill you or lock you away. You're something so rare that it doesn't even happen once in a lifetime, Emiya. To some, you're the magical find of the century."

* * *

The dark skinned figure rose up from the ground. His movements were slow and heavy, his breathing ragged. He wore heavy black armor with gold accents that helped emphasize his massive, powerful frame, a dark red cape flowing down his back and rippling with his movements. He had red hair that was swept back and held by a golden headpiece, and moved down his face in a full, short beard.

The Master Sword stuck out from his chest, cracks of light spread out on the man's torso from where the blade had entered his body.

The man's face was twisted into a pain snarl of fury as he stared at his killer.

"Do not think this ends here," he spat, his yellow eyes filled with rage. He took a single step forward. "The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!"

The man's form seemed to fade away slightly as he spoke and his right hand spasmed. A trio of golden glowing triangles shone on the back of that hand, the topmost one shining brighter than the other two. Then the light faded into nothing and the figure let out a long breath.

The man stopped his pained motions and stood relaxed. There was a sharp crack, the man's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped forward, his body unmoving.

They stood there, silent, accepting his passing and understanding the truth of his final words.

Light shone out from behind him and he turned to see four great spheres of light floating in the air just over the hill. The spheres of light gained brilliance with each passing moment and became the shapes of animals.

But his eyes were drawn to the small figure beneath them. A small figure wearing a familiar broken helm. The great creatures of light all turned to face him, and then faded away.

He stood there, in shock for a long moment before he started to make his way to the form. His steps, initially slow, quickly became a full sprint as he made his way toward her. As he made his way up the hill, he lost sight of her, which only made his sprint faster.

He had to know. He had to be sure. He had to-

He crested the hill and came to a stop. The figure he'd recognized was gone. A crumbled form in a long, flowing robe was in her place.

The figure rose to its feet and slowly turned to face him, revealing slim and sharp features and thing almond shaped eyes with red irises. Her hair was the familiar orange red color, but longer, flowing down the sides of her head in twin streams and joining together over her chest to continue flowing down to her mid torso. Her skin was the same pale grey as well.

She wasn't wearing robes like he'd originally thought. Instead she wore a long hooded cloak, a shirt that exposed her flat stomach, and there was a swath of cloth like a skirt that hung before her legs.

"What?" the woman asked, her tone bemused. "Say something!" A smirk touched her lips when he didn't reply. "Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?"

He stood there for a long moment, before he felt himself smile and start to laugh.

Then, in an eye blink, they all stood on the stone altar, two of them facing the woman from before. To their left was the stand that held the mirror, the relic that was the bridge between two different worlds. Behind the woman was a great piece of stone with glowing white lines and a circular gate that seemed to into the stone.

"Well," the woman said. "I guess this is farwell, huh? Light and shadow can't mix, as we all know. But… Never forget that there's another world bound to this one."

"Shadow and light are two side of the same coin…" the woman beside him replied. She wore an elegant white and purple dress and had long brown hair that fell to her mid back. Her elfin features were enhanced by a pair of pointed ears and the air of regality that surrounded her. It was an aura of authority that Saber had, the air of a monarch and a wielder of power.

"One cannot exist without the other," she continued. "I know now the reason the goddesses left the Mirror of Twilight in this word. They left it because it was their design that we should meet. Yes… That is what I believe."

"Zelda," the first woman said and closed her eyes. "Your words are kind, and your heart is true. If all in Hyrule are like you… Then maybe you'll do alright." She opened her eyes and gave them a warm smile. Then she turned and walked down the altar. As she reached the end, a glowing white staircase appeared, rising to be level with the spinning gate set in the pillar of stone.

She looked at them again. "Thank you," she said. "Well, the princess spoke truly: as long as that mirror's around, we could meet again…" She closed her eyes and a single glowing tear rolled down her cheek. "Link," she said, and the tear fell off her face and drifted through the air before her. She raised one hand and pushed it through the air.

"I…" her voice choked. "See you later…"

The glowing tear slowly passed through the air and passed into the mirror, leaving ripples of light through the patterned pane of glass. Cracks suddenly spread across the mirror and he turned to face the sudden source of sound.

He spun to face her once again in time to see her finish her climb up the steps and face them one more time.

He felt like in insides were about to shatter. She gave him one last, heartfelt smile. Then light shone from the cracked mirror and she dissolved into a flowing stream of light and went down the gate in the stone.

The light stopped, and the mirror shattered into tiny fragments on the stone altar where he and Zelda stood.

He simply stood there, staring at the now blank face of stone, where the woman he loved had gone forever.

* * *

 **Author's note: And I do believe this is the longest chapter I've made to date. Happy Wednesday, everyone. So, yeah some stuff went down here. Namely, we've now seen the shape of Shirou's soul, and Shirou has had a similar experience. And now Shirou's Incarnation status has been revealed.**

 **WOOHOO! As of this chapter posting, we have made it to exactly 100 favorites! I am… blown away. That says so much about how much you people like this story and that feeling is amazing. I hope you guys continue to follow this story and we all continue to have an amazing adventure together. Thank you all so much.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.**

 **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

 _You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war._ \- Napoleon Bonaparte

Link and Shirou faced each other in the dojo. The second saber had been insistent when they'd set up their morning training.

"It's good for Shirou to diversify his training partners now that he has a solid ground work," he said. "Since we have so many Servants under one roof now, we might as well give him some variety."

"But changing his sparring partner could undermine all of the progress he's made," Saber replied.

Link shook his head. "I don't think so. I've been watching you both closely. A break would do you both good, and besides," he added with a grin. "I want to try my hand with him."

"It'll be alright, Saber," Shirou assured her. "It'll just be today and then things will return to normal."

Saber looked both relieved and disappointed.

Link spun his wooden sword and readied his wooden shield while Shirou readied his shinai. He took a deep breath and focused his attention on Link. The second saber's stance was different than Saber's and he would have to make his first move count.

He suddenly shot forward, his sword moving in quick strike and-

Shirou woke up from his sprawled position on the ground with a pounding feeling on the side of his head. Saber was over him, laying a hand on his head.

"Ow," he said at the light touch and cringed away. Saber retreated slightly and gave Link a hostile look. The hylian was busy trying to smother his laughter.

"I'm sorry," he said, not very convincingly. "I just had to try that at least once."

"This isn't a game, Link," Saber said, her tone sharp.

"The look," Link laughed. "That split second of complete surprise. Totally worth it."

"Link!" Saber snapped, her own stance becoming hostile.

Link calmed down. "Oh, relax Saber," he said. "All I did was knock him unconscious for a moment. He'll be fine. It's not like it's a new sensation for him."

Shirou grew annoyed. Saber at least took the training seriously. She beat him up, sure, that was part of the territory, but she hadn't found humor in it. Link noticed Shirou's irritation and smiled.

"Good," he said and drew his sword and shield again. "You're focused. The only thing that should be on your mind is me and that sword. I want to see what you can really do, Shirou. This is your first lesson: 'A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.' Saber's taught you how to think, how to move, and how to be part of the fight. Now I'm going to give you a lesson: How to _be_ the fight. To control the fight completely with your thoughts and actions."

Link moved first in a fast horizontal slash that Shirou barely managed to dodge. They met gazes and Shirou suddenly realized what Link was going to do. Saber's training policy was to operate at a rank just above Shirou's own skill. Link was fighting at a higher level than that, to force Shirou into improvement.

Shirou quickly readjusted and tried to counterattack. Link blocked with his shield and pushed back. Shirou didn't lose his balance, which only proved that Link was still holding back and giving Shirou a chance.

Shirou spun away from the push of the shield and tried to attack Link as he moved away, but the hylian was a blur of green as he spun as well and let loose with a flurry of strikes. Shirou wasn't able to block them and was sent sprawling away.

"Link!" Saber snapped as Link lowered his sword. "Shirou can't compete with that level of skill!"

"I know that, Saber," he answered. "But there's something in him. Something I'm trying to force out. The only way I can think of is to push him. I was taught by the school of hard knocks, and that's the only way I know to teach." He fixed Saber with an intense look. "I won't break him or even seriously hurt him."

Shirou had gotten to his feet by now. "It's fine, Saber," he said and glanced over at her. "I'll-"

Link surged forward and slashed at Shirou with a powerful strike the instant Shirou's eyes moved away.

Something… happened. Shirou couldn't explain it, but his body moved on its own in response to Link's charge.

He twisted his body away from the incoming strike and counterattacked in the same stroke, the familiar weight of kanshou in his hand. The black blade met the sudden plane of metal of Link's swapped shield with a clang and Link swung with his sword.

Shirou dodged and glanced at his left hand when he heard a gasp. The short falchion gleamed in the light from the dojo's windows. He glanced up in time to see Link barreling toward him and Shirou's reflexes took over.

Shirou dropped the shinai that was in his right hand and, with a flash of silver light, the white twin appeared in that hand. He brought them both to bear and the Master and Servant clashed, sparks flying as steel met steel and the two of them began to dance.

Shirou didn't have time to think, he simply acted and responded to Link's strikes. The hylian was fast, a whirlwind of green and steel and Shirou was forced to try and hold that barrage at bay with his own storm of black and white blades.

Link suddenly did a sequence of strikes and Shirou's swords shattered under the force of the blow.

"Shirou!" Saber shouted as Link moved to drive Shirou away. Shirou's hand shot toward his back and flashed forward in a powerful and unusual attack. Link's eyes went wide and barely managed to leapt back before the silver blade suddenly in Shirou's hand could strike him.

They both stood there for a long moment before the projected copy of the Master Sword faded away with sparks of pale green light.

"Okay," Link said, hands up in a gesture of non-aggression. "That wasn't quite how I was expecting this to go." He glanced at Shirou. "How'd you do that just now?"

"Do what?" he asked.

"You copied the sword technique I used on you: The Mortal Draw. I know the technique to pull it enough to knock someone out, but that was something very dangerous you just did after a single look. And it was almost flawless."

"I…" Shirou said and fell silent. It had just happened in an instant. He'd needed something to defend himself and the sword had just been there and the technique already in motion.

"I think that's enough for today," Saber said, her voice stiff. "We'll need to prepare for tonight and after that, Shirou needs to rest."

Then she turned and left. Link sighed.

"This is going to get old," he said.

"What is?" Shirou asked. Link gave him an incredulous look. "Do you _not_ see it? Golden Goddesses, are you _that_ clueless?" Shirou gave Link a blank look. "She refuses to touch you, to let anyone else train with you, and has been overly protective of you for the last two days," Link said, bluntly, and raising his fingers for each point. "Would you like to hazard a guess as to _why?_ "

"I mean," Shirou said, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

Link shook his head. "There's a saying in this world: 'Seize the day'. Well, you both could benefit from that advice. 'Seize the day'. You both have the chance for something amazing and you two just dance around it. Embrace joy, because if you wait around too long, you might be ready, but the chance will be gone. She'll be gone."

Link made his way to the door.

"Like with the mirror?" Shirou asked. Link froze, his hand just before the door's handle.

"How do you know about that?" he asked, not turning.

"I had a dream last night," Shirou answered. "I saw someone leave you, and shatter a mirror before fading away."

Link's shoulders slumped. "Midna," he whispered, his hand lowering. "She… knew me well." He turned to face Shirou. "There's a price when you follow duty. When you set everyone before yourself, there's only one person to pay the price. It's a wonderful feeling, helping people. But it costs, eventually and unexpectedly."

* * *

Taiga nearly sent herself back to the hospital within two minutes of coming home to the feast Shirou had prepared for her return. This wasn't due to any flaw in Shirou's cooking, but rather, the conniption she had at the number of women currently in the living room.

"I understand you want to build a harem," Taiga raged in a disturbingly calm sounding voice. "You're a young man with new ideas in his head. You have the school idol, the foreign beauty, the overly-affectionate underclassman, and I can understand adding someone like the redheaded wonder, and there's a certain appeal to adding a loli to the group, if only for balance. And maybe I can even understand you adding another guy if only for experimentation's sake…. But _MAIDS, SHIROU?! MAIDS?! WILL YOUR DEPRAVITY KNOW NO BOUNDS?!_ "

"And only the other day I saw an advertisement from an insurance provider on moral bankruptcy," Harry said. "I might have get myself a protection plan. Maybe see if I can get a package deal."

Taiga whirled to face the wizard, who didn't even flinch at the murderous gaze sent his way. Shirou would've admired Harry's iron will, if he wasn't suffering from the nuclear blush that was affecting everyone else in the room. Well everyone except Harry and one of Illya's maids named Leysritt.

"I hold you responsible for this, Mr. Dresden," Taiga roared. "You have corrupted my Shirou with wickedness and have ensnared everyone in a web of depravity."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, if only Charity could see me now," he said and fixed Taiga with a look. "I sure as hell haven't brought any wickedness into the house. I think you're in denial and projecting. Maybe we should put it to a vote." Harry glanced around with an evil light in his eyes. "All those in favor of saying Taiga is the one responsible for bringing wickedness into the house, raise your hands."

Harry, Rin, Illya, Link, and Leysritt all raised their hands and Harry made a quick count. "Crap, looks like it's a tie. I guess that declares the matter moot and we can move on to lunch. All in favor?"

Harry, Rin, Illya, Link, Sella, Leysritt, Pyrrha, Sakura, and Saber all raised their hands. Shirou rose his as well only to try and kill the conversation as fast as possible. Taiga gave the wizard a glare before sitting in her usual spot.

With eleven people sitting and eating, the space was a little cramped, but not so cramped that it was impossible. Shirou, true to his word, had whipped up quite the feast for Taiga's return.

Harry glanced around and his eyes met Shirou's and Rin's before flicking toward Taiga.

"So about that, uh, shindig we had planned for tonight," he said. "You guys still free?"

"Shindig?" Taiga asked. "What's that?" Pyrrha glanced at the wizard curiously as well.

"It's just an expression," Harry said. "Rin was going to show me some of her favorite spots around the town and she invited Shirou, Saber, and Link to come as well."

Taiga eyed Harry suspiciously. He sighed. "Look, Taiga," he said. "I'm not corrupting anyone. Trust me, it's the last thing I want to do to anyone here. I can't help that Shirou offers sanctuary to people who've had home issues." He pointed at Sakura. "There's still a giant hole in her house that I- an accident made, so Pyrrha had to stay here too."

"And my house blew up!" Illya chimed in. Taiga gave the girl an alarmed look.

"So it's hardly my fault that this has happened," Harry continued. "So I'd really appreciate it if you didn't look at everything I say and do with suspicion, otherwise absolutely nothing is going to get done."

Taiga sighed herself. "You've made your point, Mr. Dresden. Shirou would never take advantage of anyone staying under his roof."

Harry relaxed, now that the tiger had apparently settled. "But it's always fun to make fun of him with it," he said.

"Oh, without question," Taiga agreed.

"So what do you think is Shirou's optimal harem situation?"

Shirou's indignant shout was cut off by Link suddenly spinning his head to look at one corner of the room.

"Is something wrong, Link?" Saber asked.

His blue eyes sat unwavering for a moment, then he turned back to the table. "It's nothing. I thought I saw something moving, but I think it was just my imagination."

Harry's eyes grew distant and he lifted his left hand in a gesture that was probably supposed to look casual. Shirou felt an odd sensation wash over him. Something that seemed, curious and questing. The moment passed and Harry lowered his hand and shook his head.

There was no magic there. But Shirou was certain he'd seen a flash of movement too, just out of the corner of his eye. Something that had looked vaguely like a rat.

* * *

 **Author's note: One last short chapter before we move on to far more exciting things. I want to give a quick thanks to Warden Myst for helping out with the Taiga shenanigans. Of course, I don't think Taiga has ever run into a troll quite as capable as Harry Dresden. It was fun indulging in his sarcasm.  
** **Shirou's also getting a lot better as his swordplay. :)**

 **I'm also kinda surprised that the soulgaze last chapter didn't elicit more of a reaction. Oh well.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and I want everyone to enjoy this story. Every favorite and follow is message that tells me I'm making something amazing that you all enjoy and I never want to lose that. Every review is a chance for me to see what you guys think and a chance to improve my writing and this experience for everyone.  
** **If you guys want to ask me something more privately, you can always PM me or Warden Myst. Don't forget to check my profile for the Secondary Servant dossiers on what has been revealed so far. It's usually updated the day of or the day after a chapter has something new for them.  
** **Thanks for reading!**

 **EDIT: Ok, so, apparently, there's an accidental reference to From Fake Dreams in here that I was not aware of. I've never read From Fake Dreams, but my brother, Warden Myst, has and he helped me write that rant from Taiga. It's been a long time since he's read that story completely through and it looks like he subconsciously referenced it as he was helping me with the scene. There is no connection between these fanfictions, it was an honest screw up, and I find it amusing that _that's_ the tidbit people have locked on to. I'm really sorry if that created any confusion**


	50. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

 _In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer._ \- Albert Camus

Snow drifted down from the dark sky. Shirou and Saber wore heavy coats over their clothes while Rin had added a scarf to go with her duster and gloves. Link stayed in his astralized state while Harry stayed physical and wore his usual clothes, not even appearing to notice the snow or the cold. It was slightly creepy, if Shirou was being honest with himself.

They set their trap in a long abandoned gas station, Saber and Link positioning themselves in the heavy forest nearby while Rin and Shirou hid in the abandoned building. Harry made his way to the other side of the building, watching their backs in case the second Assassin, Ezio, chose to appear and try a sneak attack.

The plan was simple. The road they'd staked out was the only one that lead toward Ryuudou temple. Kuzuki would _have_ to cross their path. Rin had set up a bounded field that prevented sound from escaping it, ensuring that any sort of fight wouldn't be noticed.

They didn't chat as they waited. Link and Saber were fonts of calm concentration as they waited, and even Harry's expression had grown passive. Rin and Shirou waited, suppressing their anxiety as the minutes moved by.

Then a sphere of red light streaked into the bounded field and flashed before vanishing like vapor. The signal Harry had arranged earlier to let them know when Kuzuki was close.

Everyone adjusted their positions and prepared themselves for the ambush. Shirou tightened his grip on the simple sword he'd projected earlier. That had been Harry's idea, something to help Shirou practice his projection skills and giving him something to focus on while they waited.

"Are you sure about this?" Shirou whispered to Rin. "I really don't think Mr. Kuzuki's the Master."

"Maybe not," Rin admitted. "But now we'll know one way or the other." She lifted one hand and aimed it at the passing teacher. "Here goes nothing."

The small ball of concentrated magic silently shot from Rin's finger and streaked through the air straight for Mr. Kuzuki. The shot was perfect.

It nailed him in his side and knocked him into a stumble to one side, the umbrella he'd been holding to protect himself from the light snowfall falling to the ground, partially burned from the magical strike.

Shirou began to move, but Rin grabbed his arm.

"No, wait," she told him.

The moment held.

 _"Did my warnings mean nothing to you, Souichirou?"_ a woman's voiced asked. _"I said you may be attacked and_ because of that you should remain in Ryuudou temple." As the voice spoke, glowing purple butterflies converged at Kuzuki's side and formed themselves into the shape of Caster.

"Perish the thought," Kuzuki said. He took off his glasses and turned to face the abandoned gas station. "We caught our prey, they've come right to us."

A small gust of air came from Caster, scattering the trace of snow that was on the ground below her in a ring as she lifted into the air and drifted toward the station. She landed with another scattering of snow.

"How much longer are you going to mess around in there you foolish little mage?" Caster asked and raised one hand. "Because I'm feeling generous, I will give you three seconds to come out. And then I shall respond accordingly."

"Okay, Emiya," Rin whispered. "Are you ready?"

"You know," Harry said as he stepped out from behind the gas station. "I'm not really sure how you evil types always manage to make generosity sound so cliche. Did I miss an elective on the White Council curriculum?"

"Damnit, Harry," Rin cursed under her breath as the wizard made his way into the light cast from the street lamps.

"So, we meet in person at last," Caster sneered. "The fake Caster has finally decided to show himself."

"And I forgot to dress up," Harry quipped. "You know, I almost wore the same outfit. Gosh would my face be red or what?" He gave her a look. "That was sloppy, tipping your hand like that just now. You could've just stayed away and played dumb. Maybe dropped a bomb on us as we made a quiet exit."

"Sloppy?" Caster laughed. "What sort of mage reveals himself to a superior opponent like you have?"

Harry shrugged a shoulder, looking bored. "You call it sloppy, I call it unpredictable. Us spellslingers like doing things from down the street or even parallel dimensions if we can get away with it, but you have taken exception to that rule before, Medea."

Caster froze, her mouth hanging open in shock. Both Rin and Shirou went stiff in their hiding place.

"How did you figure it out?" she asked.

"Maybe a little bird told me," he answered.

"Well that's hardly forthcoming isn't it, fey touched?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "So, you can sense it?" he asked. "The Mantle."

"I lived in the age of Gods, mage," Medea replied. "I know the touch of beings greater than mortal man."

"Huh," Harry said. "I guess I shouldn't have put on winter fresh deodorant this morning." Harry looked thoughtful. "Though I suppose it makes sense that you can feel it. The Queens do have a connection to Greek gods. I doubt you're much for Summer's side of things, though." He adjusted his stance and regarded Caster. "I know you rather well, or at least that thing you have tucked away in your robes somewhere. I did hold that knife once, briefly, to cut Lloyd Slate's throat. The energy is familiar, even here."

"Interesting," Medea said. "The Second Sorcery is far more fascinating than I'd assumed. But I think I've let you stall for long enough. It doesn't really matter if _you_ know me or not. You are just a speck from some other world."

"I'm still here," Harry answered.

"That can be rectified."

Shirou chose that moment to rise from his hiding place and exit the building. Medea's position shifted slightly, taking note of Shirou's presence.

"This is a surprise," Caster said. "Are you coming to the defense of this Servant that's not even your own?" She spoke in a mocking sneer, twinged with just a breath of curiosity.

"Tohsaka and Emiya," Kuzuki commented, moved into speech by the appearance of his student. "So it was not only Matou, but you two who were Masters as well. How ironic, three of my students are Masters."

A white robed form materialized beside him. "As I informed you, Master," second Assassin said. "You were surrounded by foes from the start, hidden though you were."

"So you did," Kuzuki replied.

"Kuzuki," Shirou said to the other Master. "Are you actually being controlled by Caster?"

"You're annoying me, little boy," Caster said. "So why don't I just kill you now?"

"Wait," Kuzuki said. "Please tell me what made you think to ask that question? Why would you suspect such a thing? Enlighten me."

"I've heard that you're a decent person," Shirou answered. "Which means, you couldn't possibly overlook the things Caster is doing."

"What exactly _is_ Caster doing?"

"Well, Caster is draining mana from people everywhere, all over the town. Those people are nothing more than sacrificial lambs to her. As long as Caster keeps draining people like this, she'll eventually end up murdering someone. There's simply no way to avoid that from happening. And Assassin there has already tried to kill me once, and he's Caster's Servant, not yours."

"You can hardly blame me for taking an opportunity when it was in front of me," Assassin said. "Though I should note that I wasn't aiming for simply you. Lancer interfered with the other strike meant for Rider's Master." Kuzuki made a gesture and the Secondary Servant fell silent.

"So I see," Kuzuki said. "And that is the reason you think that I would turn a blind eye to her deeds? And why I, her Master, would actually be under her control?"

"Yeah," Shirou answered. "So if that's the case we'll only take down Caster and Assassin. But if you gave Caster free reign, knowing full well what she was doing, then you're a cold-blooded murderer. And I'll take you down."

Silence reigned and pressed against Shirou's ears as he waited a seeming eternity.

"No, it's the first time I've heard any of this," Kuzuki said. Shirou relaxed. "But, Emiya," he continued. "What you say Caster is doing… what is really so terrible about it?"

"Uh, say again?" Shirou asked, completely taken aback by what his teacher was asking him.

"The deaths of unknown strangers, no matter how many, are of no concern to me. Exactly like how none of those strangers are the least bit concerned about my life."

"That's easy to say when you don't have to stand there at all the funerals," Harry said. "When you're not standing there, trying to explain to the survivors that you can't stop what's taking their husbands, children, and wives into dark places no one wants to go."

"I wouldn't know anything about that," Kuzuki said. "I have not had the experiences that you seem to have."

"Kuzuki, you're a mage and you're okay with involving outsiders?" Shirou asked, trying a different tact from Harry.

"You're mistaken," he answered. "I'm no mage. I'm nothing more than a cold-blooded murderer." His voice was without inflection or emotion, as if he was stating a fact as plain and obvious as one plus two equals three.

Shirou stood stock still as Kuzuki continued. "I will not participate in the Holy Grail war. If you and Caster fought each other, I would stand here and happily watch the bloodshed that would ensue. I refuse to take responsibility for your choices or violent actions."

"Great," Harry interjected, and spun his blasting rod toward Caster with blinding speed and shouted: _"Fuego!"_

A jet of blue-white fire blasted toward Medea, who casually lifted a hand to intercept the magical assault. What was visible of her face twisted in shock as the spell struck whatever barrier she was using and began to push her back despite the magical defense.

There was a whistle through the air as the shaft of an arrow shot from the forest and toward second Assassin. The Assassin dodged lithely and the arrow narrowly missed Kuzuki as Ezio raised hand and fired off a bullet from the gauntlet on his wrist toward where Link was hiding. Then he started to make his way after the bullet. Link left the brush, sword and shield at the ready, ready for the battle.

With both of his Servants distracted, Rin leapt out from her new hiding place and threw a gem between Caster and Kuzuki. With a shouted word, she activated the single use code and created a barrier that interposed itself between Caster and her Master.

Saber surged out from the trees and into the street, sword in her hands. With a burst of wind and blue light, her clothes were replaced by her armor and she shot forward.

Caster pointed one hand toward Saber and unleashed a barrage of magical energy at the charging Servant. Rin made a gesture with one of her gloved hands and the barrier she'd created rippled and then wrapped itself around Caster's attack and grounded itself out into the ground.

"What?" Caster asked, caught completely by surprise. "Master, no!"

"Saber, stop!" Harry yelled, but he was too late.

Saber landed in front of Kuzuki, who still stood there passively, and slashed her invisible sword in a single lethal stroke.

Everyone froze as Mr. Kuzuki moved his leg up and his elbow down and stopped Saber's sword with both joints with enough strength to stop the blade dead in its motion. Purple light sparked from his limbs as he met Saber's eyes.

In that single instant, he stopped looking like the passive and unassuming man he'd been. His dead eyes had powerful intent behind them and his sheer presence radiated a sense of sudden danger.

"That was a mistake, Saber," he said. He forced her sword away from him and spun back to gain some ground. He kicked back slightly and then became a blur of purple light as he moved behind Saber and brought his fist down in a fast and brutal strike that twisted suddenly as Saber tried to defend and drove itself into the base of her neck.

Saber let out a grunt and was knocked forward. She recovered her footing and turned to face Kuzuki. The ethics teacher walked forward and assumed an unfamiliar martial arts stance. His fists began to glow with purple light before they blurred forward in a series of fast and hard strikes. Saber managed to evade the first few before Kuzuki landed a vicious blow on Saber. Whatever training Kuzuki had in combat was apparently unusual enough to give even Saber trouble in creating a sufficient defense.

"What the hell?" Shirou said. "His fists are full of magic?" He suddenly smelled woodsmoke and Harry's staff burned with hellish red light.

 _"Fozzare!"_ he snarled and a ball of force blasted from his staff toward Kuzuki. The kinetic blast struck a purple barrier that appeared maybe a foot away from Kuzuki and dispersed the sulfurous blast of force like it was a tiny ripple of water meeting a rock.

"You evade well," Kuzuki said, not even appearing to notice the attempt on his life. "I see it is not your eyes that are keen, but rather your fighter's intuition." He raised one arm and slammed it down into Saber's shoulder, barely missing her collarbone as Saber shifted minutely. She was knocked away once again by the sheer force of his strike and she regained her footing, one arm dangling uselessly.

Kuzuki shifted his stance and shot forward for another strike. Saber barely dodged, several strands of her blonde hair blowing away with the speed and power of the assault. Kuzuki lurched his hand back and wrapped his fingers around Saber's throat. She let out a gasp as he lifted her off the ground and began to squeeze.

There was the sound of steel ringing against steel and Link and Assassin fought, the two Servants becoming nothing more than a blur of green and white. It was hard to say whether Link was trying to quickly destroy Assassin so he could join Saber, or if Assassin was preventing him from coming to her aid. Whichever the case was, he was too far away to be of any help to her.

Harry, likewise, was being stymied at every turn by Caster. Every evocation he tried, jets of flame, spires of ice, or blasts of force, she blocked with barriers of purple energy. Caster didn't counter attack, appearing content to let Harry run himself ragged against her defenses. His expression was twisted into a snarl and there was a strange light in his eyes as he was prevented from coming to Saber's aid.

Shirou and Rin were frozen in place, still in shock at what their teacher was doing to Saber. Shirou was so surprised that the sword in his hands faded away into sparks of light without his apparent notice.

Saber managed to raise her sword and slash down at Kuzuki, but it was a highly visible move and the teacher dodged effortlessly before slamming Saber hard into the ground and throwing her past Shirou and through a pair of empty gas pumps and into the ruined building behind them.

"I don't believe it," he said, glancing at the hole Saber's body had just made. "What the hell was that?"

"You've always assumed that a Master's role is to provide support for his Servant," Kuzuki answered as the fighting lulled. "But there is an exception to every rule. There are Masters like myself who do nothing but work out in the open when they fight."

"Master," Caster said.

"Yes, Caster? What is it?"

"Please allow me to deal with Saber. If you would like to see to the other Masters and the second Caster yourself."

"Do so," Kuzuki said to her and then turned his attention to Assassin. "Assassin, you have free reign to use your Noble Phantasm."

The white robed figure nodded and reached into his robes as Caster vanished into butterflies.

 _ **"Brotherhood of Assassins,"**_ Ezio said. There was the cry of an eagle as maybe a dozen crossbow bolts materialized into the air and streaked toward Link, Harry, Shirou, and Rin.

 _"Ventas cicles!"_ Harry shouted and spun his staff. The air swirled around them and Link pulled out something like a bellows, releasing a blast of air as well.

The bellows and Harry's spell began to work together and the swirling air took on a rapid intensity like a tornado which shattered the bolts and sent their debris scattering away.

As the wind cleared, Harry locked his gaze onto Kuzuki and Link turned to face Ezio and the group of four figures that had joined him.

"This won't be like the temple, Assassin," Link said. "I'm not a wolf anymore. I don't have to play to your strengths."

"Oh, but you do," Assassin said and he threw a sphere to the ground between them and surrounded them with thick smoke. "You'll have to come find us, Saber." he called out from the cloud. "Otherwise we'll kill your Master when he's not looking."

Link growled and ran into the cloud and the forest the assassins would use to hide.

Harry hadn't taken his gaze from Kuzuki.

"You seem confident that you'll be able to take all three of us," he said. "Shirou, project and cover Rin. I've got this."

"But," Shirou said.

"Just stay back," Harry told him, his voice firm. Shirou shifted in surprise.

Kuzuki didn't banter back. He simply went into a stance and shot forward with his unnatural speed. Harry blurred forward with equal speed and blocked Kuzuki's punch with one of his own. Blood spurted from Kuzuki's hand and there was the sound of crackling ice.

The teacher looked at his hand with surprise and saw that Harry's fist was covered with ice.

"You might assume that just because I'm a Caster I can't throw down in a fight," Harry growled. "But when you assume, you an ass out of you. _**Mantle of Winter.**_ _"_

Freezing cold air rippled through the air around them and Rin and Shirou felt goosebumps form on their skin. Then Harry drove his ice covered fist into Kuzuki's stomach and sent the teacher flying across the street and into a tree.

"I am more than a simple wizard," he said, spinning his staff into a ready stance. "I am the Winter Knight. Mortal champion of the Queen of Air and Darkness herself." Ice crackled as claws formed over Harry's hands and armor formed over the parts of his body not protected by his spell layered duster.

He exhaled and a plume of frozen air left his mouth. Then he shot toward Kuzuki, who had quickly regained his footing and stance. The two of them began to rapidly exchange blows, Kuzuki with his twisting and efficient strikes and Harry with brutal ferocity and unnatural weapons.

Kuzuki wasn't stupid enough to let Harry keep his weapon. The first exchange of blows forced the staff from the wizard's hands and away from them both. Harry let the shaft of oak go rather than fight to keep it and went into the teacher with his ice covered fists.

Rin stared at her Servant with a mixture of fascination and horror. Harry wasn't fighting like a Caster anymore. His behavior and tactics were more in line with a Berserker. And… he was winning.

He may have been brutal in his tactics, but that didn't mean he was fighting stupidly either. It was clear that Kuzuki was reinforced with magic, probably from Caster at some point. But Harry was being reinforced from his Phantasm and he appeared to have a complete understanding of his improved physical limits.

He was moving and fighting with the confidence of a predator, and he was far faster and stronger than even the reinforced Kuzuki was. That and, strangely, he didn't seem to notice when Kuzuki would land a blow.

The teacher landed a particularly vicious blow into Harry's side and Rin was certain she heard ribs crack with the blow. Harry didn't even flinch as he grabbed Kuzuki by the front of his suit and slammed his head into the teacher, knocking him back and briefly stunning him.

Then with a gesture and word, he slicked the entire street with ice and kicked Kuzuki down it. Harry took off after him, his feet not slipping on the ice even once while Kuzuki was forced to try and adjust.

"What is this, Tohsaka?" Shirou asked, his voice awed. Archer's twin blades were in his hands, in case Kuzuki managed to get past Harry.

Rin had to say something very difficult. "I… I don't know. He's never talked about this. I didn't even know he could do this." She felt herself grow queasy as she caught the look of pleasure on Harry's face as he continued his assault. "How could he have _this_ inside him?" she asked. "I didn't… It wasn't there when…"

Then she remembered the soul gaze. The claws on one hand, the blood staining the other, the frostbite on his body. She _had_ seen it. The darker side of him. She'd seen the scars it had left on his soul.

Dresden started to bear down on Kuzuki, his blows starting to move even faster than before. The claws at the ends of his fingers tore into the teacher even as he took powerful strikes from Kuzuki's enhanced body.

One such blow forced Harry to spin and he continued the motion, aiming to drive his claws into the teacher's back. Time seemed to slow for a moment and Rin saw the feral snarl on the wizard's face. Anger at the resistance, joy at driving his opponent into the ground. Pleasure in the moment before the kill. Rin could see it coming.

The wizard's claws would drive themselves straight through the teacher's back. Kuzuki's spin to counter the blow was being hampered by the ice covered road. Even with the reinforcement, he wouldn't be able to block it in time.

Caster's Master was going to die here. Rin could clearly see in her mind what the sight would look like, the clawed hand stabbing through the teacher's chest. Harry could see it too, and it pleased him.

 _"Harry!"_ she shouted. _"Stop!"_

The points of the stars on her left hand blazed into blue light and Harry froze in mid swing. His eyes snapped toward Rin, absolutely alien to her and completely furious.

"Master!" Caster shouted and flew out of the gas station. Saber was a second behind her and slashed with her sword as Medea grabbed the bloody Kuzuki and went skyward.

There was an explosion from the forest and Assassin hurled himself out of the trees and threw a pair of knives behind himself. Link blocked the strike with his shield as he left the treeline as well.

Ezio's robes were stained red where he'd evidently taken strikes and he watched Link warily.

"I told you," Link said, his voice confident. "This wasn't going to be like the temple. You've got some pluck, Ezio. I'll give you that. Maybe in another lifetime you'd be able to take me in a straight fight."

"High praise indeed, swordsman," Ezio answered. "This is not the first time you have dealt with my kind."

"Just another lifetime," Link answered and brought his sword to bear once again. Ezio shook his head and lifted a golden globe into the air. There was a flash of golden light and he, Caster, and Kuzuki were gone.

Harry collapsed to the ground, his breathing ragged, as Saber approached Shirou.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Shirou nodded and looked at Harry.

"What the hell was that, Harry?" he asked, wary. Rin was still staring at Harry in shock.

The Caster refused to meet their gaze. "It was the deal I made," he said. "The price of looking for power, even if it's for a good cause." Then he dematerialized.

Rin turned her gaze to where Caster and Kuzuki had been in the air. "We blew it," she said. "Totally blew it. Kuzuki will never leave the temple again."

"So?" Link asked.

"Do you mean to give up on slaying Caster?" Saber asked.

"Yeah, right. We can't just let her run free," Rin answered.

"Of course we can't," Shirou agreed.

Link glanced around. "Harry was having a field day with the ice, I guess. What'd I miss?"

Rin didn't answer.

* * *

 **Author's note: Big chapter today and, honestly, one of my favorites. I loved this fight in the UBW anime and adding the secondary Servants was actually a lot of fun. Harry just sort of took control and the changes made themselves. And I finally got to show off Dresden's second Noble Phantasm.  
** **And I believe this also ends the slow period we've had for the last couple of chapters. There's all sorts of stuff coming up now so things should be good and exciting for quite a while. :)**

 **SentinalSlice/Anonymous1684: If you haven't already, please check the last chapter for my update regarding that. I'm sorry for any confusion there.**

 **TheFelRoseOfTerror: Unfortunately all the Servant slots have already been allocated. In addition, I don't see the Cthulhu-verse as distinct enough to really count toward the Secondary Servants. That might be because I'm not well versed in it. I also believe the Grail prevents deities from becoming Servants, and I'm also reasonably sure that malicious deities trying to physically manifest themselves are one of those things that counter guardians shoot at in their free time.** **I do appreciate the thought and suggestion though.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	51. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

 _Do you believe in destiny?_ \- Pyrrha Nikos, RWBY

They ended up walking home from the battlefield. Desden refused to rematerialize or even speak to them so they couldn't Way back like they'd planned to.

The walk was done in mostly silence. Shirou and Rin were still reeling from the surprise that Kuzuki was disturbingly effective in a fight, and that Harry had had such an unexpected Noble Phantasm.

It wasn't until they were entering Shirou's home when Link finally spoke up. "What I can't figure out," he suddenly said. "Is why someone like Caster is after the Grail."

"What do you mean?" Rin asked.

"Well," Link said as the group made their way into the living room. "She's here, so she has to have a reason to want the Grail. And while the simple answer could be so that she can just pick up wherever she left off after she died, I get the feeling that it's not that simple."

"What's not that simple?" Pyrrha asked. She and Illya were sitting at the living room table, apparently in the middle of a discussion.

"Caster's motivation for the Grail," Link answered.

"She survived your attack?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes," Saber replied. "And she will likely have her Master take cover inside the temple where we won't be able to easily attack them."

Pyrrha frowned. "That's going to be a problem," she agreed. Her eyes flicked back to Link as the group settled around the table. "What does that have to do with Caster's desire for the Grail?"

"I'm just trying to figure out her motivation," Link answered. "Maybe if we can figure out _why_ she wants the Grail we'll be able to find a way to get her." He shrugged. "I'm just grasping at straws here."

"If she really is Medea of Colchis, then her Noble Phantasm will likely be the Golden Fleece," Rin said. "Which makes her all the harder to defeat, since she could simply drop a dragon on us if things get too bad. As for her wish, it could be any number of things."

"Is it that hard?" Illya asked. "Grandfather said that the wish of the Servants is to be resurrected into this world. That Servants seek the Holy Grail to live a second life."

"Why do I feel like that's too small for Caster?" Link asked.

Shirou's eyes moved from person to person, an idea occurring to him. This was an opportunity to learn about everyone. His gaze fell onto Saber. Rin had said that every Servant had a wish for the Grail. If what Illya said was true, then there was a chance that Saber would stop fighting. If she reincarnated, then once the war was over she wouldn't have to put herself in danger. She'd nearly killed herself against Berserker when she'd tried to use Excalibur. He'd been struck by just how powerfully he'd wanted her to survive that fight.

"Well," he said. "If we can't figure out Caster's desire for the Grail, what about you Illya?"

The girl looked confused. "I don't know," she answered. "I was just told that the Holy Grail is mine, so I shouldn't give it to anyone. I don't really care who uses it."

"So you're saying that the Holy Grail war is more fun than the Holy Grail?" Rin asked.

"Of course," Illya said. "I only came to win."

Rin snorted. "You realize that's pretty stupid, right?"

Irritation flashed across Illya's face. "What does that mean?" she demanded.

"That you shouldn't join something like this without a good reason," Rin told her.

"Then what about you, Rin?" Shirou asked.

Rin glanced down and almost looked embarrassed. "I think," she said slowly. "That I'd like to make a small change. I'd like to create a connection that should've been here before." Her cheeks burned red. "And that's all I'm saying," she finished.

"Something small?" Illya asked, mockery in her voice. "That's all?"

"At least it's a reason," Rin snapped embarrassment starting to shift into anger. Shirou searched for an escape route before the argument grew.

"Uh, what about you, Pyrrha?" he asked the Lancer.

Pyrrha looked embarrassed as well. "I'd," she said slowly. "I'd like a second chance. A chance to say something I should have earlier." Her face turned red and she stood up. "Excuse me," she said and left the room.

They all stared after the departing girl.

"Well," Link said. "I guess she's embarrassed about something."

"What about you, Link?" Rin asked.

The second saber drew in a breath. "I want to stop the darkness," he said. "I want to end the cycle that holds us in place. To let Hyrule have peace that won't eventually be broken."

Everyone sat there and took that in for a moment. Link's had been the most selfless wish yet. He might have been lying, but that would have been out of character for him. He hadn't hesitated to answer, either. He genuinely desired to save his world.

Then everyone turned to look at Saber. Unlike Link, Saber didn't seem as willing to speak of her own desire. Maybe a minute passed before Saber finally spoke up.

"Because it is my duty to obtain the Grail," she answered. "I don't know how powerful the Grail is, but as long as it is the Holy Grail, I must obtain it."

"But, what is your wish?" Shirou asked.

"I have no interest in a second life," Saber said. "My intention is close to Illyasviel's. My goal is to obtain the Holy Grail. I became a Servant in order to do that."

"Hold on," Rin interjected. "You became a Servant in exchange for obtaining the Holy Grail? You mean the contract when you became a heroic spirit?"

"Yes. In exchange for becoming a Servant, I seek the Holy Grail."

Rin looked awestruck. "Then you're not a Servant summoned to obtain the Holy Grail, you became one on your own?"

Shirou started getting lost. "So, wait, Saber joined this battle willingly?"

Rin's expression grew distracted as she tried to puzzle the situation out. "But as long as you're a Servant, you're respected as a heroic spirit. So…" her voice fell into muttering as she tried to put the puzzle together into something concrete.

"You do not need to work it out, Rin," Saber said. "What you said is correct. I am not like other Servants. I have yet to become a complete Servant."

Something clicked in Shirou's mind. "Hold on. Are you saying that Servants are forced to fight as the price for obtaining something?"

"No, that is wrong," Saber told him. "From the beginning, Servants are special familiars that only exist for the Holy Grail War. A Servant is a summoning that recreates the characteristics of heroic spirits. Since the heroic spirits already existed, they are not bound to specific rules that force them to fight."

"We're volunteers," Link supplied. "Not employees or conscripts."

"But I've heard that before they become a Servant they need to pay a price to become a heroic spirit," Rin said. She glanced at Saber and Link. "Heroic spirits are guardians of the people, right? It's like they work for people even after they die to prevent humanity's destruction." Rin's voice grew more confident as she went down the logic chain. "So to become this guardian, a living hero must make a contract with something. So that their existence still belongs to the world after they die. All we do as Masters is take the debt these guardians have to world for a brief time."

Shirou and Link thought that over.

"So humans become heroes by making a contract and then they're summoned as heroic spirits after they die to pay for the price of becoming a hero?" Link asked.

"Then the conditions of the exchange that Saber made is…" Shirou continued.

"The Holy Grail," Rin finished.

"But that can't be right," Shirou said. "Saber, you just said that your objective is to obtain the Grail. But you should have already obtained because you became a hero in exchange for it."

"No, Shirou," Saber replied. "I have not yet obtained the Holy Grail. Arturia, King Arthur's, wish was to obtain the Holy Grail while she still lived. I had to obtain the Holy Grail before I died. So I agreed that I would become a heroic spirit after I died if I could obtain the Holy Grail.

"As Rin said, humans make a contract with the world to become heroes, receive powers beyond human ability, and pay for it with life after death. But I didn't need such help to become a hero. I had already gained the power on my own."

"But you're here as a heroic spirit," Rin pointed out. "Does that mean that you asked for a different exchange from the world after you became a hero?"

"Yes," Saber replied. "I needed the Holy Grail in my final moments, since a wish had appeared in my final moments that I needed to have granted. That is why I made the contract of heroic spirits."

"So you became able to obtain the Holy Grail by selling yourself off after death," Rin said. "But, Saber, your condition was to obtain the Holy Grail while you were alive, correct?"

Link eyes went wide with sudden realization. "You're still alive," he said. "You haven't died yet. You… can't die because that stops your deal. You're just like me. Caught in a repeating cycle, except you don't live your life each time you're summoned. You make a run for the Grail, and if you fail you just move on to the next one."

"Like you're in a dream," Rin added. "You won't wake up until you obtain the Grail."

"No wonder you can't astralize," Link said. "You're still a living being."

Shirou's brow furrowed and then his eyebrows shot up once he was able to get what was being said. Saber was literally being transported back and forth through time, from the moments before her death to every single instance where there was a chance to acquire the Grail. Rather than fade away, like other Servants, she simply dropped back to where she was and then immediately moved to the next opportunity to win the Grail. And if she ever gained the Grail, then she would be transported back to the battle, where she could use the Grail as she desired.

"Hold on," Rin said, coming to her own conclusion at about the same time as Shirou. "Once you get the Grail, what, are you going to take it back in time? That's changing the past, a sorcery! There's no way you can do that."

"But the Holy Grail allows me to do this," Saber explained. "I made a contract that I would become a Servant if I can use the Holy Grail. The price of becoming a Servant, even if it means the elimination of the person called Arturia."

The significance of Saber's statement hammered into Shirou like a speeding truck and he was moved into speech. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "Arturia will disappear when she uses the Holy Grail?" Anger joined the shock. "Saber. You're?"

"My desire," Saber answered, quite calmly. "Is to save my country from ruin."

Shirou went complete still at the reply. "Why?" he asked, the question stiff, passing through frozen lips.

"It's obvious," Saber said. "I couldn't protect my country. I became king to protect the country and I could not fulfill that duty. I thought at that time… That perhaps the sword chose me by mistake." A cold shiver ran down Shirou's spine and Saber spoke in a vacuum. "I've always had such doubts. That I might not be the right king. That there was another hero who should have been chosen. When I drew the sword from the stone, there must have been a suitable king who would have been able to save the country I could not."

Silence reigned, everyone sitting there in some form of shock or anger. Then, someone spoke.

"You're right," Link said, his voice disturbingly calm. "Going back might save your country. And it might make everything far worse. I've seen it first hand what can happen when power lands in the hands of someone disturbingly capable."

Saber gave Link a confused look.

"You forget, Saber," he replied. "I've lived many lives. I've seen what Hyrule has become based on the choices that have been made. I've seen it rise. I've seen it prosper. And I've seen it fall because a brutal and capable king took control.

"I am the Hero of Twilight. But I've been other heroes. Let me tell you the story of the Hero of the Sea. I didn't come once. Darkness rose and Ganon came once again. The Hero never came. I never came to stop him. He kept gaining power and the gods themselves were forced to act. They had the people flee to the tops of the highest mountains in Hyrule, and then the flood came. Hyrule was buried under the waves of the sea. My home, my world, was gone. Ganondorf was stopped, sealed away beneath the waves, but at the cost of all of Hyrule. The people had to sail away and try to find a new home. But even that didn't stop darkness from rising again, darkness I was fortunately able to stop. I never saw Hyrule again, in that timeline.

"I've also seen what the world became when I lost. When Ganondorf had gained control of Hyrule. Castle town was nothing more than a ruin full of redeads. I had to cross between different ages of time and repair the seasons of the world in order to stop Ganon from dragging Hyrule into oblivion.

"There might be a better king, Saber. But there's a difference between capable and right. You never know what someone will do with power until they have it. That's why Ganondorf only ever got one part of the triforce. Because all he wanted, all he understood, was power. Not wisdom and not courage, just power."

"It's not as simple as that, Link," Saber said.

"Yes it is," Link said. "When it comes to divine selection, it can be surprisingly straightforward. Heroes like us are chosen for a reason, Saber. Because we hold something in us that makes us who is needed, not just capable or convenient. How many knights tried to pull that sword? Why did none of them succeed? Because you had something they didn't."

"Then why was I not able to save Britain?" Saber countered. "If I was, as you claim, the right king, then why did I fall to betrayal and rebellion? None of your lifetimes cover that, do they?"

It was then that Shirou noticed that the air temperature had dropped maybe 10 or 15 degrees.

Shirou glanced around and noticed that Harry had materialized at some point and had fixed an arctic, steely gaze onto Saber.

"I can't believe," he growled, vapor flowing from his clenched jaw. "The sheer _arrogance_ you're displaying right now, Saber."

"Arrogance?" Saber asked. "Is there something wrong with wanting what is best for my country? I made an oath to the people and I failed them. Is it so wrong to seek someone better suited to the task of ruling? Is it anyone else's place but my own to make the choice?"

"There has to be someone _better?"_ Harry snarled. "Surely there was some kind of _mistake?_ I can't believe I'm hearing those words come from _you_ , King Arthur."

Saber's eyes went narrow and the air pressure in the room became stifling. "It's not your place to criticize my duty as King," she responded.

"That's real rich coming from someone who's willing to throw away everything they've created over second thoughts," Harry shot back. The wizard was on his feet now, cold air coming off of him in waves.

"Then what would you use the Grail for?" Saber asked. "What desire of yours would you want fulfilled? If not for the betterment of people under your care?"

Harry's eyes blazed and the temperature dropped several more degrees. _"I want the mother of my daughter back,"_ Harry roared. Everyone fell silent. "I want Maggie to be able to see her mother again. That Susan and I could raise her in peace. I wish that I could've saved her and wiped out the Red Court without having to cut her throat."

Harry's gaze never wavered and Saber turned away, avoiding the danger of a soul gaze. "I wish things had gone differently," he continued. "But I can't have that. I can't change the past. It violates one of the Laws, and I understand why it is. I don't have the wisdom to know how things would've changed. I can't be certain that I won't unleash forces that could destroy _everything_. All I can do is live with the choices I made and pay the price for them.

"You were a King, Arturia. You led a country that became the greatest empire in history. Hell, the sun never set on the British Empire. And that country still worships the ideals _you_ brought to it. _You_ are what made Britain strong and that strength lives on in people across the world.

"And the simple fact that you think that was a mistake shows just how blind and arrogant you are. You think that your choices are what lead to your fall? Were you the one that convinced Mordred to betray you? Did you tell the knights of your court to leave you and rebel? Those were _their_ choices, Saber. Not yours.

"You did the best you knew how, and some people decided that they didn't like it. Big fucking deal. None of us are perfect. All of us make mistakes and we _learn_ from them. We don't erase them from existence because we have doubts. We try again and we fail again and we feel the pain from those choices until we die."

Harry spun and left the living room in a storm of billowing black leather and freezing air. Silence was all that followed.

"I think that is all for the evening," Saber said and rose as well. Once she had left Shirou glanced at Rin.

"I wasn't expecting… that," he said.

"Neither was I," Rin admitted. "I've never seen Harry shout like that before. I… think I should go talk to him." Then she left.

Shirou turned and looked at Link, who was fingering the blue ocarina he'd played once before in Shirou's yard. "It's hard, sometimes," he said. "Always having to be there. Always being the bastion against darkness. I almost always have Zelda at my side in one way or another for some of it, but, most of the time, I'm alone. The sole sentinel. The final defense. Being here, with the memories of all those times, just makes it more confusing some nights."

"I'm sorry," Shirou said after a moment.

Link smiled ruefully. "It's not your fault. That was the price, and I don't regret my fate. It just gets difficult some days. But I make a difference. I save the world. I save my friends." Link lifted the ocarina and played a few notes, his eyes drifting closed.

Shirou glanced around and realized that someone else had vanished during the discussion.

* * *

 **Author's note: So, yeah, some heavy stuff going down here. Not much I need to add on that front. :)**

 **SentinalSlice: Kuzuki is certainly an interesting fellow, and it was still a very close call there.  
You're welcome. That was not what I had expected when I posted that chapter. :D At the very least, I took the confusion as a sign that people who enjoy those big Fate fics are enjoying my story as well.**

 **TheFelRoseOfTerror: I actually knew about the deity trick in GO, but I don't count that since it's a possession, not a physical manifestation. I didn't know about the Foreigner class, so I'll have to go poke around there when I have time. I don't want to clog this note up with a discussion on world lore, so I'm just going to leave it at that right here. We can always PM if we want to keep it going.  
-evil smile- I'll quote Kelsier one more time: "There's always another secret. The trick is to never stop looking." I am curious about what your guess is, since dropping that whole "[REDACTED]" thing really feels like cheating. I will warn you that I rarely confirm or deny a guess, but when it comes into play, I'll definitely mention any correct guesses.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	52. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

 _You never really understand a person till you consider things from his point of view._ \- Harper Lee

-Interlude Saber-

Saber made her way down the hall toward her room. Anger and other emotions swirled around in her chest. The gall of Harry and Link to criticise her duty. _What do they know of how I lived and lost?_ she thought.

Something grabbed her wrist and held on with an iron will. Saber turned to see Illya standing there, her eyes shining with a surprising intensity.

"We need to talk, Saber," she said, her tone irresolute.

"Illyasviel," she said. "This i-"

"No," Ilya said, her tone hardening. "You said that you haven't died yet. That means you remember your earlier summonings. Including the last one."

A lead sensation settled in Saber's stomach. She should have seen this coming. The young Einzbern had been nine at the time, still young, but definitely old enough to spot anything unusual going on at her home. The strange blonde woman who had left with her father and mother would certainly have been something the child would have noted.

Saber hardened her resolve. "Follow me," she said and took Illya to the most private place she could think of.

* * *

"I'm afraid it won't be comfortable," Saber said as she closed the door to the shed. "But we should be able to speak openly in here for a time."

"Why are we in here?" Illya asked, momentarily distracted from her course.

"Shirou is the only one who comes here," Saber explained. "And if he decides to seek either of us out, he won't think to look here until he's checked everywhere else. That will take time." Saber turned to face the girl. "You had questions, Illyasviel."

Saber met Illya's eyes and was surprised at the hard light that burned in them. Rage, pain, sadness, and bitterness warred for control of the girl's expression. Saber also caught just a shadow of malicious cruelty in the girl's eyes. It was possible that Illya didn't even know it was there, but the sight of that seemed to tear inside of Saber.

Saber sighed and glanced away, pain evident in the simple act. "You look so much like your mother, Illyasviel. It has made your presence, awkward."

Illya froze, as if she'd had a bucket of frozen water poured over her. Whatever the girl had been about to say or ask seemed to die with Saber's words and Saber simply started talking, as if a dam had suddenly burst.

They were alone and Illya's presence was resurfacing Saber's own hidden store of bitter and sad memories. Being in the house had always stirred those troubled waters, but having an Einzbern with her and returning to the shed where so many things had started and changed had finally brought her past her threshold.

She was alone, and could finally speak freely.

"You look like Irisviel, except for your your eyes. You have your father's eyes, and his resolve as well. I can see where you get your strength of will from. You, just like him, are willing to do just about anything to achieve your aims."

She glanced back to the young girl. "I don't understand why you weren't here when I was summoned," she continued. "Kiritsugu always seemed to love you very much. Irisviel certainly did. I assumed once the war was over Kiritsugu would have found a way to bring you here. Even Shirou's presence shouldn't have changed that."

"Kiritsugu didn't love me," Illya all but spat. "He never came back! He left me behind for him."

Saber blinked. "I didn't know Kiritsugu all that well," Saber said. "He was capable as a Master and brutal in his methods. And he betrayed me in the end." Illya's eyes shone with unshed tears. "But," Saber continued. "I remember just before we left for the last war watching him play with you. The way he smiled… It was something quite at odds with the man I served during the Grail war. And from what I have seen and heard from Shirou, he was raised to help others, a trait he claims was given to him by Kiritsugu."

Illya gave Saber a hateful look. "He never came back," she repeated. "He betrayed me, and my mother, and left me so that he could stay and raise Shirou instead."

Saber turned her full attention to Illya. "He betrayed Irisviel?" she asked, shocked. "But that doesn't make any sense. Surely…" She fell silent.

Shirou had never mentioned Irisviel once. In point of fact, he'd never mentioned any sort of mother figure. The closest he'd come was Taiga, and she was more of a sister to him than a mother.

"Illyasviel," Saber asked. "What became of Irisviel? The final part of the war was intense and I did not see her role in the events leading to the end."

Illya shook her head. "She told me before she left that she'd be gone a long time before I saw her again. She's spoken to me, but hasn't come home yet."

"She's spoken to you?" Saber asked. "What has she told you?"

"She told me what my Grandfather told me: That Kiritsugu betrayed us and raised Shirou instead of coming home. And that I'd be able to repay them in the Grail War." Absolute hate burned in Illya eyes as she spoke, her voice strong with the emotion. "He threw me away."

Saber locked onto the words rather than the tone. That was surprisingly out of character for Irisviel.

While she might not have known Kiritsugu very well, Saber had spent a great deal of time with Irisviel. Their ploy during the war had been to stay close to Irisviel to convince everyone that she had been Saber's Master and so Kiritsugu could perform his bloody work in the background.

For Irisviel to pass on such hatred toward Kiritsugu to Illya wasn't just unlikely. In Saber's estimation it was almost impossible. Even when Kiritsugu had killed Diarmuid's Master in front of her, she had been shocked but not angry. She had accepted the reality of the situation and asked Kiritsugu to explain his reasons to Saber so that she would understand.

It was, she supposed, theoretically possible that Kiritsugu had done something so callous and heinous that even Irisviel's love for him might have shattered, but that didn't hold up in Saber's estimation. Cold blooded murder hadn't been enough to shatter that faith. There wasn't much could top that.

However, if someone _else_ knew about Kiritsugu's actions and his connection to both Shirou and Illyasviel, then it might occur to them to use that connection against one or both of them.

Morgana had certainly done that against her with Mordred, pushing the knight against her in an attempt to destabilize Britain, which had worked, incidentally, resulting in both of their deaths. This was too close to be coincidence.

"Is that why you joined the war?" Saber asked. "For revenge?"

Illya looked away. "I wanted to see him," she answered. "Kiritsugu was already dead, so I couldn't get him back for what he did. But I wanted to see Shirou, the boy he raised instead of me." Some of the hate seemed to fade away from the Einzbern. "And, he treated me like a sister. I wanted him to be mine. To take that from _him_ and to keep him for myself."

Saber wasn't at all comfortable with thinking about what _that_ was supposed to mean. The girl was clearly capable of staggering amounts of malice if in the proper mood, and whatever she'd had planned would certainly not have been pleasant.

But, in any event, her current priority was to keep Shirou safe, and whoever was trying to use Illya to that end wouldn't let the loss of Berserker and Ghost Rider stop them. Illya didn't know anything about Irisviel, so she would have to wait and figure out what had happened to the woman in due time.

"You said you had questions, Illyasviel," she said. "It would be best if I answered them before Shirou came looking for either of us."

"What happened?" Illya demanded, cutting to the chase. "Why did Kiritsugu betray me?"

Saber sighed. There really wasn't any way she going to get out of this situation. The girl wouldn't leave her alone if she didn't answer, and not answering would likely turn her against Shirou once again.

"Kiritsugu used his Command Seals to force me to destroy the Grail," she answered. "I don't know why he suddenly decided that he had to do it, but that was how the last war ended. I honestly don't think he could bring himself to hurt you or Irisviel. If I can be sure of anything about that man, I am sure that he loved you both fiercely."

Illya let out a snort. "So, you don't know."

Saber shook her head. "Upon my word as a knight, I don't know why." She met the girl's red eyes with her jade ones. "But, maybe we can figure it out once the War is over."

-Interlude Rin-

Rin found Harry in her room, sitting at her desk. She stood in the doorway and rested one hand on her hip and examined her Servant.

"That was quite the rant you had back there," she commented, closing the door behind her.

Harry snorted. "Yeah, it's been a while since I cut loose on someone like that. Hopefully it'll do some good though."

"I'm still surprised," she said.

Harry sighed. "Hell's bells, I've been called arrogant before, more than once even, and I've thrown that descriptor at a couple of friends and enemies alike. And, yes, I am aware of the idiom about stones and glass houses."

Rin made her way to the bed and sat down on it. "And what was that about your wish?" she asked, carefully.

Harry hesitated. "Do you remember what I told you at the beginning of the war, Rin? About starting wars?"

"You said: 'War is ugly and it isn't a game. You never start a war without a damn good reason.' Are the two connected?"

Harry nodded. "I started a war to save the woman I loved. Susan had been taken by the Red Court of vampires. I killed Bianca to take her back and got the Council into a full scale war because of it. But, Bianca had half-turned Susan into a vampire. She left me and tried to figure out how to live.

"We met again a couple of years later and she helped me out of scrape. She'd joined with a group called the Fellowship of Saint Giles. It was a collection of outcasts, mostly half-vampires like Susan, who fought against the Red Court. We… got together one last time on that case.

"It wasn't until years later that I found out about Maggie. Susan never told me and only did because the Red Court had found her and taken her to use in a ritual meant to kill me, Susan, and my Grandfather.

"Susan killed her partner, who had betrayed Maggie to the Reds, and turned into a vampire as a result. She… was the youngest of them all. The ritual the Reds had prepared could be used on anyone, as long as the right sacrifice was placed on the altar."

Rin felt sick as Dresden recounted the tale. Her mind flashed to a dream she'd had just before she'd joined the war. A scene in Chichen Itza, where a tall man in armor had cut a woman's throat.

"I saved Maggie," Harry said, his voice hollow. "I ended the war and wiped out a supernatural race that was plaguing humanity."

"I'm sorry," Rin whispered.

Harry shook his head. "That's why I was mad at Saber. The most she could be blamed for was being a King. She had to make certain choices and not everyone agreed with them. She didn't have to kill the woman she loved."

"There was Mordred," Rin said. "Saber killed him at the end."

"True," Harry admitted. "I forgot about that part. But, hell, she's made so much with what she's done. All I've done in my free time is burn down buildings. Or kill people." Harry looked away. "She's the last person who should want to go back and change things. Not with everything she's built because of it."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of free time," she said. "I've been thinking."

"Oh, dear," Harry said.

"About your Noble Phantasm," she continued, as if Harry hadn't spoken. "A Servant's Noble Phantasm is the true name of the weapon they're using. Like Excalibur. Speaking it reveals the wielder, and therefore the Servant that is using it. But yours isn't like that. You've never used a weapon when using your Noble Phantasm. And you've used different names for your Phantasm. Most Servants have one, maybe two, Noble Phantasms. And they're all connected to the greatest moments in their wielder's legend."

Harry waited, not saying anything.

"And the names of those Phantasms have been odd as well," Rin continued. "Summer Knight. Cold Days. Mantle of Winter. Of the three times I've seen you use your Phantasm, only the one you used tonight struck me as something like a normal Noble Phantasm. A mantle is like an object, something you can hold or use. Summer Knight and Cold Days, however, sound like titles or events.

"Barnett said he was an avid Butcher fan and he seemed to know of you. It wasn't until we were going into the Einzbern forest where I put it together. I haven't had time to check yet, but I'm now fairly certain how the Grail chose the Secondary Servants. You're products of fantasy, of human imagination, aren't you?"

"It was certainly real enough to me, Rin," Harry said. "You're the strangers and the strange land from where I'm sitting." The wizard leaned back and regarded his Master. "You don't miss much, do you? Summer Knight, Cold Days, Storm Front, Dead Beat. I always gave my big cases titles when I filed them away, usually based around what I was investigating or dealing with at the time. When I was summoned, the Grail informed me of the details behind my legend here. I call out titles and draw on the experiences I had during certain cases. As long as what I want isn't too powerful or complex, I can summon it to my side, regardless of how that being or force feels about me."

"That's… a surprisingly versatile Noble Phantasm," Rin said. Then she gave Harry a look. "And the Mantle?"

"That was me allowing the Mantle of the Winter Knight to take control," Harry answered. "It doesn't think. It's all primal savagery and predatory instinct. It's the power of Mab's champion, the Knight of the Winter court."

"And, what does being the Winter Knight entail?"

"I became Mab's hitman, her soldier. If she needed someone's legs broken, if she needed someone killed, or if she needed to repay a debt, I was the guy she sent."

"What did you do?" Rin asked, curious.

"I killed, I repaid debts, and I protected the world from things no one ever saw," Harry answered. "I've used my power to do great and terrible things, Rin. I'm not a Knight. I'm fairly sure I'm not a hero either."

He stood up and left.

* * *

"Would you hurry it up?" he said to the man. "I don't want to eaten by a three-headed dog or maybe bump into the shade of Medusa because you went into gloat mode like every evil overlord shouldn't. I told you we already checked it."

"If you don't mind," a gravelly voice replied. "I'm going to make certain for myself."

The voice echoed in Rin's mind, but the images of the dream were hazy, as if mist had been laid out over the scene before her. The voices were distant and slightly out of focus, perhaps blanketed by the same fog that shrouded the details of the scene playing out in her dreams.

"Oh for Pete's sake, you can't be serious," he complained. "Mab is a tricksy bitch, but she's good to her word. She gave you her word that I would help you secure the cup and bring it back, as long as you didn't get up to any shenanigans and that's what I'm going to do. It's safe, stick a needle in my eye."

Silence was the only reply. The fog grew thinner and Rin could start to see shapes through the vapor. Humanoid shadows in dim light.

"You get all cautious now?" he asked, his voice continuing to have that irritating, whining quality to it. There was a small sound, like something smooth and solid being moved from a surface, like a cup being quickly taken off of a table. "See, no traps," he continued. "It's not an Indiana Jones movie, man."

The fog grew thinner, then thicker, and then thinner again. The voices echoing to her slipped in and out of focus, as if something was trying to stop what was happening in front of her. As the scene faded back into clearer focus, Rin caught sight of blazing torchlight lighting the area around the still shadowed figures, one tall, the other shorter.

"This is what you came for, right? What your daughter died to give you? Hey, if I dropped it, do you think it would break?"

"Dresden," the other voice growled.

"Gravity seems a little higher here," he said. "You notice? Maybe just exactly enough to break something like this if it fell. And then she'd have died for nothing."

"Give me the Grail," the other voice whispered. _"Now."_

 _What?_ Rin thought. _But the Grail-_

"Sure, come get it."

There was the sound of movement and shadowed figures moved around something between them. The tall one Rin finally recognized as Dresden's shadowed profile. He casually held a small cup in his hand as they moved around a table or altar. Then he spoke again and his voice seemed to cut through the fog surrounding Rin.

"Deirdre talked to me about your relationship yesterday. Did you know that? She went on about the centuries you two spent together," he continued, his voice careless and dismissive. "About how there was no word for how close you two had become because no mortal could possibly understand. Hell, I guess that's true. Because you threw her away like she was so much trash. I don't have a word that seems sufficient to cover a father who would do that."

Harry and the other man stopped moving. "Give me the Grail," the other voice rasped. "And shut your ignorant mouth."

"You said she was the only one you _trusted_ back where you _murdered_ her," he said conversationally. "Call me crazy, but it seems to me that it's gonna be a long, cold, empty place for you for the next few millennia. I mean, talk about having an empty nest. That coin in your pocket must feel _pretty_ heavy right about now."

The other voice's breathing started picking up. The fog grew clearer and Rin could see the outline of the man quivering with barely suppressed emotion. Anger, pain, and the need to lash out at the wizard in front of him.

"That must have been difficult for someone so used to wielding power," Harry said. "To realize that, as a result of the life you'd lead, there was no one who would willingly come with you, willingly let you slaughter them, willingly pull that level for you after you had. I'll bet you chewed that problem for years trying to crack it. Did it hurt when you realized what you were going to have to give up?"

The sound of breathing grew more intense.

"The funny part is that bit about her being protected from Hell," he said. "You brought her _here_ , and expected that she wouldn't get her sentence? Have you read Greek mythology? Do you know the kinds of things Hades sentences people to endure? At least Hell is, by all reports, more or less non-discriminatory. Down here, they get _personal_. Did you just try to give her a comforting lie at the last minute, just to make sure she'd pull the lever?"

The second figure whipped a sword out from his side, leveling it at Dresden, and though his body shook with emotion, the point of the sword was straight. The other man, was clearly a master of the weapon.

"Give me the Grail, or I'm going to kill you," the figure said.

"Do you remember," Harry asked, his voice very quiet. "The first time you saw her, the first time she looked at you? Do you remember that change, that shift when the whole universe suddenly tilted? Do you remember looking at her, and knowing that you would never, ever, be quite the same person? Do you think the cup will do that for you?"

The mist fell away as Harry flicked the cup he'd held toward the man across the stone altar from him. The man's eyes went wide with surprise, but he caught the cup easily, his whole body shuddering as he touched it.

"I don't know how you said it back in the day, but I'll bet you anything that her first word was: Da-da."

-Interlude Tony-

There was a faint cracking sound as the silver spike was driven into the ground. With a spoken word the ground around the shaft of silver shifted slightly, giving the spike the best chance of being hidden from view. Then Tony made his way around his target, pulling out another spike he moved.

"What are you doing?" Sinon asked, materializing beside her Master.

"Settin' a trap," he answered and jammed the spike he was holding into the street. With a spoken phrase in what sounded like Russian, the silver spike was driven into the ground and then concealed with his magecraft. He pulled another spike from the pack on his hip and began walking further down the street.

"And you're driving silver spikes into the road because?" Sinon asked.

"Because silver is one of the best materials to channel mana through. If I set up enough of them I can use them to isolate an area and then empower a ritual."

"And you chose to do that here of all places?" Sinon asked, dryly.

"How many Servants are here?"

"Four."

"And they've been stayin' here, despite the fact that I _know_ they've been stayin' here. They're basically asking me to open up a can of whoop-ass on their doorstep." Tony stopped walking and drove another spike into the ground with his magecraft.

"Should you really be wanderin' around out of your astral form?" Tony asked. "What if someone senses you?"

"They can't see past my presence concealment, Tony," Sinon answered. "Despite how low it is. And everyone's… busy right now."

"What does that mean?"

Sinon didn't answer. Tony continued to work.

"Why do you want the Grail?" she suddenly asked. "You've told me that you just thought it was a fun idea, but what's the real reason?"

Tony simply smiled. "I gave you the real reason," he told her. "I'm a man who tries to live life to the fullest and have all of the crazy shenanigans he can. I go out and hunt creatures that could cause tons of destruction if they got out of control. It's hard and dangerous work and it can get pretty disturbing most days.

"But, at the end of the day, it's good work. I was plannin' on going out with a bang. I'd wait until I was an old man, assuming I lived that long, and then have fun with all the hoity-toities who'd sign up for this stupid war. I'd have my last hurrah and then either die or set the Grail on my mantelpiece or somethin' just to say I did it. Course, that'd piss off the mages as well. My family's never been one to really believe in the Root. Too much of our founding magecraft was based in Native American Traditions."

He drove another spike into the ground. "I'm a simple man, Shino. I have simple goals. If I want the Grail to give me anything: it's a good time. The last several days haven't been all fun and cheer, but on the grand scheme of things, I'd say things have been pretty good so far." There was a long moment of silence. "Of course, there is also the matter of why I was even in Japan." Tony's face shifted into a small grimace as he unconsciously flexed left shoulder. He shook his head as he tilted his head to look at his Servant.

"I have to say, after you saw that in your dream cycle… I appreciated the anger you had. Here I was, a guy you barely knew for a week and you felt anger about a betrayal that didn't even directly affect you." Tony rubbed his hand against his chest for a moment before shaking his head again, his usual smile appearing on is face.

"So, What about you? What would you do with the Grail?"

Sinon's tail swished through the air and wrapped around her. "I think I'd like to help him get better," she admitted. "If I got the Grail and could use it for myself, then I think I'd like to help Shinkawa get better. If I couldn't use it for me then maybe…" Sinon fell silent.

Tony let out a slow breath. He was fairly certain that his choice would haunt Sinon no matter what he said or did. It was simply part of who the Archer was. She could understand why, could even come to terms with the decision, but it would still linger in the back of her mind. Sinon and death did not mix well.

"What brought this on?" he asked.

Sinon gestured toward their target. "There was an argument and everyone was talking about what their wishes for the Grail were."

"And?"

"Let's just say I didn't expect King Arthur to be quite as complex as she turned out to be. She's a walking contradiction. Simple but complex. Regal but common. Selfless yet selfish. I never would have pictured that from the stories."

"And the fact that 'he' turned out to have different plumbing than you were expecting?" Tony asked.

Sinon shook her head. "The fact that Arthur is actually Arturia isn't actually that big of a deal," Sinon said. "I actually think I could talk to her more easily now than I probably could've before I found out she was a woman."

"Oh? How's that?"

Sinon shrugged. "She's more relatable to me this way. I had this image of King Arthur as this remote and ideal king, and she definitely matches that image perfectly, but at the same time… She barely looks older than I do… and to see that she has flaws and doubts makes that regal image even more beautiful. And it makes her more human at the same time."

Tony grinned as he drove another spike into the ground.

"You are such a fangirl, Shino Asada."

Sinon shot him a look. "Are you sure about this plan?" she asked, back to business.

"I think it's our best bet to wipe out as many Servants as possible while keeping the Masters alive," he said. "Your Noble Phantasm ain't easy to stop and none of them have the ability to simply get away."

Sinon grunted in agreement. "You realize that if Dresden catches what you're setting up, we're in trouble, right?"

"Yeah, but subtlety isn't Dresden's strong suit," Tony replied.

"As far as you know," Sinon countered. "We already know he exists beyond what you can learn about him. And I can only make guesses on what his Noble Phantasm can give him access to."

"It's a gamble," Tony admitted. "But I think the potential rewards are worth the risk. You okay with your part?"

Sinon nodded. "I don't have a problem taking on Servants. As long as your end goes right, there won't be any problems."

"Good," Tony said and drove another silver spike into the ground around Shirou Emiya's property.

-Interlude out-

* * *

 **Author's note: Surprise! We have a chapter of interludes today! It's time for our Servants to get some things off of their chests. And Rin finally had a Dresden dream cycle. :D**

 **Spartan-140: Don't forget, back in the Einzbern forest after Rin saved him, Archer went and buggered off and presumably got himself killed. He's been gone for a little while now. :)  
** **And, actually, no. Most of that chapter wasn't in the original script. But as I was going through my outline and writing the story, I realized that I needed them to have that conversation so I wrote the scene. I found it highly amusing that basically every Secondary Servant had something to say to our dear Saber.**

 **Guest: Honestly, I think it's all of the above. It's just a huge, confused mess of everything swirling around in her.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.**

 **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	53. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

 _Sometimes you wake up and there's a voice that tells you that today is a special day._ \- Harry Dresden, Blood Rites

Shirou lay on his futon as sunlight began to lighten the room around. He hadn't gotten much in the way of sleep last night, and when he had managed to, he'd been overwhelmed by more dreams of Saber.

He knew he was at a crossroads. He had a decision to make. The Grail War had kicked into high gear, and it was clear by now that it was going to stay like that for a while. Berserker was gone, and they had made their first run at Caster. It was only a matter of time before Caster made her next move.

But, what he found more pressing than that was Saber and her wish for the Holy Grail. She wanted to change the past, to erase her part in history and, more pressing to him, her part in his life.

Shirou grimaced and tried to parse out the swirl of emotions running through him at the thought of Saber. She was someone who was stuck in a bitter cycle, bound to fight endlessly until she achieved her goal and then removed herself from history and his life. Every time he thought of that, he just got more and more frustrated.

 _Why?_ he thought. _Why is this bothering me so much?_

When had everything gotten so complicated? Well, that was easy to figure out. Everything had gotten strange when the world had tipped upside down and he'd been dragged into a battle royale between mages and epic heroes of myth and history.

Words echoed in Shirou memory, words he didn't want to remember. _'Surely, you've realized by now that your wish will not come true without a clear and distinct villain. Even if you refuse to admit it to yourself, a hero of justice must have a villain to defeat. Without that, all your battles will be meaningless.'_

And then: _'Your own worst enemy is the image you have of yourself in your head.'_

Shirou growled. He didn't need their voices adding to the confusing swirl in his head.

It all came down to a simple question. What did he want? His purpose in joining the Grail War had been to try and stop the other Masters from going too far or from using the Grail to do irreparable damage. But… at some point that had become a secondary objective.

 _When did this become about anything other than helping others?_ Shirou thought. _When I insisted on fighting by myself, despite the skill I saw in both Saber and Link? When I decided to fully rely on their help and skill? When I made a sword for Saber and Link put his life on the line to save Rin?_

Shirou sighed and adjusted his position on his futon. He wasn't going to get anywhere if he kept lying to himself. Link had never been the problem. The issue had started before Link had even entered the picture.

Everything had changed when he'd seen Saber appear in the shed. A beautiful girl framed by moonlight. Everything stemmed from that moment. Every personal crisis he'd faced had stemmed from Saber, not Link.

He'd leapt out to save Saber when she'd nearly been killed by Berserker. There hadn't been anything rational behind the action, not really. If he'd wanted to try and simply save his Servants, he'd have gotten involved when Link had been knocked unconscious.

In that moment, he hadn't wanted Saber to get hurt. He'd been hesitant about using Saber because he hadn't wanted her to be killed, and Link had been a convenient reason _not_ to use her, because he could stay with him in his astralized form.

But… Whenever Saber had been placed in truly mortal danger, he had reacted with blind fear of losing her. Each and every time Saber had been on the verge of death or total destruction, he had gotten involved in some manner in order to save her.

He'd leapt in the way of Berserker's strike. He'd insisted on carrying her while fleeing through the forest. He'd used his second Command Seal. He'd… slept with her. He'd done all of that because, at the core of his being, he hadn't wanted to have a Saber shaped hole in his life.

 _I want her to stay,_ he realized. _I want to see her smile._ Despite all of the insanity that had gone on in the last two weeks, he wouldn't trade the moments he'd had with Saber for the world. She'd opened something in him and, he was startled to realize, he didn't want it to close again.

With Saber by his side, he felt like he could face any trial, any pain, and come out okay.

Something seemed to break in his chest and Shirou said the words he'd been trying to bury under reason and anger and thoughts of justice. Three simple, selfish words.

"I love her."

And that was the problem. He was in love with Saber, and she didn't want to stay in the world because she had doubts about her choices.

Shirou ground his teeth and fought back his frustration. _There has to be a way to convince Saber to stay,_ he thought. _Some way to show her the chance she has here._ She didn't have to fight anymore. She'd already done that enough when she was alive. But… Saber seemed obstinately obsessed with fighting. How was he supposed to convince her to simply stop?

Then something struck him. What was it Harry had said to him?

' _Where I come from, you can't perform an act of magic that you don't believe in. So learning the Art is something that really teaches you about yourself. It's also why black magic is so corruptive. It bends you just as you bend others._

 _'People help stop that, Shirou. Finding something to help you stay centered and alive helps stop that. For Rin, it's magic and learning. She loves the challenge and that helps her keep herself from going down the wrong path. For me, it was game night with Butters and the Alphas and friends like Michael. That's what Rin was talking about. Who, or what, do you have to save yourself?'_

That was what Saber needed. She needed something she could enjoy. Something that kept her grounded. Something to save her from her own obsession.

Shirou rose to his feet and got dressed, purpose giving him strength. He knew what he had to do. He was going to try and show Saber the chance she had and to try and find something she enjoyed.

* * *

By some act of divine intervention, Rin was already at the living room table when Shirou entered, despite the early hour. She was enjoying a cup of tea and it took Shirou a half moment to realize that something was wrong.

Rin looked… disturbed. Haunted.

Her normal sense of composure was off in some nearly imperceptible way. If she hadn't been living with him for a while, he might not have even spotted it. Rin was a past master of wearing a mask to hide her real feelings, but Shirou could spot the way her shoulders were more tense and how she held the tea cup more stiff than she usually did.

"Everything okay, Tohsaka?" he asked.

Rin nearly jumped in surprise. "What?' she asked. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Shirou asked. "Because you seem, off."

"I don't want to talk about it," she growled and took a drink of her tea. Shirou spotted the way she tried to make herself relax.

He was about to push the issue, but decided that annoying Rin first thing in the morning was an excellent way to get killed. He went to the kitchen to get started on breakfast.

"Hypothetically," Rin said and Shirou stopped and turned back to face Rin. She didn't look at him as she continued to speak. "How do you think a child would feel if she were given away to be adopted? Adopted into another family with no say at all?"

Shirou didn't answer immediately. _Where's this coming from?_ he thought. _Did something happen?_ And then another thought occurred to him. _Does she know about me? Is that why she's asking?_

"Emiya?" Rin asked, her eyes and head moving slightly to put him into her peripheral vision.

"Well," he answered. "It depends on the situation. If her new home was nice then she probably wouldn't complain, and if it wasn't nice, then she would complain."

Rin turned away. "I see," she said. "I guess you're right. Why am I even asking such an obvious question?"

"Rin," Shirou asked, taking a risk by being more familiar. "Is everything okay?"

"What's done is done," Rin answered. "There's nothing we can do about it now." Rin's posture became firm and decisive. "What we need to do now is decide what we're going to do next. What are your plans, Shirou?"

"I'm going on a date with Saber today," he answered.

Every trace of tension in Rin's body suddenly vanished and she stared at Shirou. Her composure slipped and her face began to twitch. Then she burst out in a long bout of laughter.

Shirou gave Rin an annoyed look which only made her laugh harder. "H-hold on," she wheezed between laughs. "I-I wasn't ready for that! Hahahahaha! That's so amazingly selfish of you, Shirou!"

"Shut up," Shirou told the girl. "I seem to recall you saying I should be more selfish. I realize that this isn't the right time, but I'm not letting you stop me."

"N-no," Rin gasped back. "It's not that. It's the thought of you going out on a date!" Then she fell back into her laughter, slapping her hand against the ground with glee.

Shirou fell into sullen silence, letting Rin get the laughter out of her system. After another moment, she finally settled down.

She let out a contented sigh and glanced at Shirou. "I needed that," she said and then smiled. "Do your best on the date. I like you guys."

The sudden shift from laughter to support was a surprise and it took Shirou a second to get his mind back on track.

"Thanks," he said.

The door opened and Harry entered, followed by Link and Saber.

"Any breakfast yet?" Link asked. Shirou shook his head.

"No, I was about to get started," he said.

"Cool, it'll go faster with both of us making it," the saber said and he and Shirou made the morning meal.

The others entered and everyone enjoyed the meal. Surprisingly, Pyrrha and Sakura were the first ones to leave once they had finished, the two of them claiming that they had something planned.

Not long afterward, Link managed to talk Taiga away. It was oddly out of character for the second saber, but the wink Link sent Shirou's way suggested that he, somehow, had an inkling of Shirou's plans for the day. Even Illya and her maids wandered off somewhere, leaving just Shirou, Saber, Rin, and Harry alone in the living room.

"So," Harry said. "Anyone think of anything to do about Caster?" he asked.

Saber shook her head. "Her position is too secure for anything short of a direct assault, and it's likely that she'll take drastic steps to stop us if we manage to break past the Assassins."

"Yeah," Harry said. "She's got enough juice to blow the temple into dust if she wants to. I don't think even your magic resistance could handle that." He glanced at Rin. "Any ideas?"

"Some," she said. "But we can talk about those later once Shirou heads out."

"Heads out?" Harry asked and glanced at Shirou. "Got something planned, Shirou?" Rin shot Shirou an amused look as both Saber and Harry fixed their gazes on him.

"Sort of," he said. _Idiot,_ he thought. _I have to be more confident. If I don't present a strong front, Saber will break it._

"Saber," he said. "We'll be going into New City today."

"New City?" Saber asked. "But Caster is hiding out in the temple. Or have you had an inspiration regarding Sinon or Lancer's Master?"

"No," Shirou answered, hiding the fact that he hadn't actually considered the possible appearance of the second archer. It didn't really matter, since it was daylight. "We're going to go hang out."

"Huh?" Saber asked, freezing in place while Harry's eyebrows raised. Rin stayed out of their sight, smothering her laughter. "Shirou," Saber asked slowly. "What do you mean by that? You are not going to hang out with Rin, but…"

"I'm going," Shirou said. "So who else would I have with me but you? Tohsaka and Harry have their own plans today just like everyone else."

"That's ridiculous," Saber said. "If it isn't a plan for Caster or one of the other Masters, then what does going out accomplish?"

By now, Harry was hiding a smirk and his own amusement was making Rin's efforts to hide her potential laughter even more difficult.

Shirou forwent the subtlety and put his intentions out clearly. "I'm asking you out on a date, Saber. How about it?"

Rather than comprehension, Saber's expression continued to look confused. Rin had stopped trying to smother her laughter and was watching the two of them. "I do not understand what you're saying," Saber replied. "If you want to go into town, that's fine, but I don't understand what you mean by 'date'. I understand this age, but not all of the technical vocabulary."

Shirou sighed. This was just getting more difficult, not less. "It's actually not technical vocabulary," he said. "But since you don't know, going out on a date means going out to play with a girl."

 _That_ got a reaction out of Saber. The Servant went completely still with shock at the implication.

"A… girl…" she said slowly, as if trying the phrase out for the first time. "You mean… me?" Shirou nodded, letting Saber come to the answer on her own.

Saber frowned. "I understand what you're saying," she said. "But not your intent. Why are you asking me this?"

 _Isn't it obvious?_ Shirou thought. He didn't say that out loud, though. By now, Rin had an exasperated expression on her face and Harry had stopped smirking, although there was still an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Geez," Rin said. "She's misunderstanding because of the words you're using," she explained. "Don't use the word 'date', explain it to her in simpler terms."

"No modern terminology," Harry added, helpfully. "Using modern words on Saber is like using pop culture references on an immortal."

"Look, Saber," Rin said. "A date is basically a romantic rendezvous between two people who like each other." Saber's face flushed at Rin's description and Shirou coughed awkwardly. "If a guy is interested in a girl, this is an opportunity for him to prove it and win her heart."

"Think of it like courtly romance," Harry said. "Except with less intrigue and more popcorn."

Rin gave Harry a look. Shirou shared the sentiment, but left it be since Saber seemed to finally realize what it was Shirou was asking.

"It's not like we'll be able to fight during the daytime anyway," Shirou added. "We should be able to do anything we want. If you're worried about tracking down other Masters, Rin and Harry will probably work on that. There's no reason we can't take a day to ourselves."

Saber looked embarrassed. "That's true," she said. "But, this is too meaningless. There is nothing to be gained in doing this."

"That's not true," Shirou replied. "And even if it was, I wouldn't mind. I want to spend the day with you, so don't worry about me. I want to go out today, no matter what."

Saber thought about that for a long moment. "Then you will go into town by yourself if I don't want to go?" she asked.

"Yes," Shirou answered. Saber glanced around and there was something like a suspicious light in her eyes for a half moment. She suspected a trap. Probably because Link wasn't around and because he had conveniently drawn away one of the only people who might have been able to stop the situation.

"Then I will have to go with you," she answered. "As a Servant, I cannot leave my Master alone."

Shirou felt disappointment. Saber's only reason for going out was to keep Shirou safe from enemy Masters. He'd hoped that she might at least think about it as a day off from the War.

 _Well,_ he thought. _At least she agreed to go out. Now I just have to make sure she enjoys herself._

The living room door flew open at that moment and Illya leapt inside, her body practically vibrating with excitement.

"I'll go out with you, Shirou!" she exclaimed. "If Saber's not in the mood, we can go out and have fun together by ourselves and Saber can do all the boring things today!"

Rin sighed as the girl nearly threw herself on Shirou with child-like glee.

There was a sudden change in the atmosphere of the living room. The temperature didn't shift and there wasn't any hostility in the air. There was simply more… attention facing the two of them.

Shirou and Illya turned, slowly, to face Harry. He didn't look angry and it didn't appear that he was readying his magic. He simply looked at them in that way that parents do when they want to convey something to their children who aren't listening.

"Illyasviel von Einzbern," he said, in a very calm voice. "I don't believe it's polite to eavesdrop."

Illya's face grew sullen and she pouted. She drew away from Shirou and fixed her full attention on Harry, clearly readying a response.

Harry gave her a sunny smile and waved his right hand. A hole appeared the girl's feet and, with an 'eep' escaping her, she dropped out of everyone's sight. There was a cushioned sound of impact and then the hole vanished.

"Well," Harry said. "That was fun." He smiled and looked at Shirou. "That'll buy you, maybe, five minutes. If you guys want to head out, now would be a good time."

"Right," Shirou said and rose to his feet. "Saber?"

She rose as well. "Very well, Shirou."

* * *

 **Author's note: This was fun to work on. Dresden got to indulge in Dad-mode for a moment, we have some character development for Rin, and we're finally at the date with Saber. Lots of excitement coming up to!**

 **Guest: It was more that Saber has had to kill those who were close to her as well. It doesn't compare to what Dresden had to do, but it's somewhere in the same zip code. There's nothing more horrible than outliving your own child, and having to kill that child yourself only adds to it. And Saber has to have regretted it on some level, since that event is included in what she wants to erase.  
On the whole, it really doesn't matter. Rin just needed to get Dresden centered, and reminding him of that certainly helped.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	54. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

 _Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own._ \- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"See ya!" Rin called after them. "Bring me back something!"

"Use protection!" Harry added.

Shirou felt his cheeks flush slightly and he gave them a rude hand gesture as he and Saber made their way away from the house. As he passed an odd crack in the street he shivered slightly.

"So," Saber asked. "What are we going to do exactly, Shirou?"

"We'll go to New City," he said. "There's a bus from the intersection, so let's take that."

Saber made no objection as they made their way down the quiet street. Even though it was nine o'clock on a weekday, the town was only now starting to come alive. The closing of the high school meant that the rush of students hadn't come and many of them were likely enjoying the morning at home. He and Saber had the street to themselves.

"It's funny," he commented idly. "I'm starting to feel no resistance to the idea of skipping school. I've spent so much time at home recently."

"Of course," Saber replied. "You are a Master, so going out during the day is most unusual." Her tone was slightly sharper than usual, her tactical disapproval of the day's plan was obvious.

Shirou summoned up his patience and tried to come up with some sort of a plan for the day as the reached the corner and boarded the next bus that came.

Just like with the street to the station, the bus was largely empty, the only other occupants being an elderly woman and a child. An hour ago, it would have been full of commuters to the city for work and they would've had a much more difficult time getting seats.

Shirou suggested they sit in the back and Saber joined him with no objections. The bus made its way from the stop to the city and Saber passed the time watching the scenery while Shirou watched her.

He was struck, once again, by the presence of Saber. The bus was an ordinary sight to him, but the girl sitting next to him was something truly amazing. Her blonde hair and jade green eyes would mark her to others as a foreigner, but even if she hadn't had those features, Saber had a regal air about her wherever she went.

She carried herself like royalty who had donned the clothes of the common man to wander among their masses to watch how they lived their lives. She was beautiful, confident, and walked with more purpose than anyone else around her.

Shirou glanced away as his mind started twisting with the reality of the situation. He was going out on a date with Saber. He started to get nervous, his will beginning to crumble at the mere idea of what he was doing.

He took a deep breath to regain his composure and prayed that Saber didn't notice. Against his better judgement, he glanced at her again.

His heart nearly stopped as he noticed something different. Saber looked the same and the scene was unchanged, but the air around Saber seemed to have shifted slightly.

This was the first time he'd really been able to see Saber in comparison to the world around them. Her golden hair and green eyes seemed to shine with the sunlight streaming in from the windows.

He found himself remembering the first time they'd met, how her hair and eyes had shone in the moonlight streaming in from the shed. He'd felt something then, a fascination that had shaped his perceptions of the Servant for the entire war. No matter what she said, she'd always be a woman before a swordsman to him.

Even more striking than the way her appearance compared to the world around her, Saber's bearing had shifted subtly. It was so slightly he doubted even she would notice it. She looked curious. In that moment, she was more than someone who _looked_ like royalty sneaking out to see the town. She _was_ royalty sneaking out to see the town.

That was when Shirou realized what it was like to go out on a date with a girl you like. He was terrified that he would mess something up and that their relationship would fall apart, that he'd lose that special connection between them.

He grabbed hold of his will before he psyched himself out. All he could do was his best and it was too late to back out now.

The bus passed over the bridge and Shirou took a breath to dispel his nerves. He wanted Saber to enjoy herself. Even if that was all that happened today, he could live with that.

* * *

As a direct contrast to the bus, the area outside the bus station was crowded. Most of the shops would open at ten, but the bookstores and cafes in the area were already open. Rider's destruction of the school was backfiring here. The crowd was about as bad as it was on a weekend.

Saber and Shirou disembarked and Saber looked around unhappily. She was getting a fair amount of passing attention from the crowd and she clearly wasn't feeling too happy about that. Which was probably something Shirou should have taken into account when he decided to ask Saber out. Granted it wouldn't matter what time of the day they'd left or gone out. They would've gotten attention no matter what.

The easiest solution was to have Saber have so much fun that she stopped noticing the attention of the crowd.

"Alright," Shirou said and turned toward Saber. "Is there any place you want to go? We've come all the way into the city, so we should be able to do whatever we want today."

"I don't know," Saber answered. "I have no place that interests me, and I have no knowledge on which to base such a decision."

"Really?" Shirou asked. "Well, that's too bad. Then I guess it really is up to luck. The future looks pretty bad if you don't have anywhere you want to go and I don't have any idea where to go."

Saber's expression became nervous. "I don't want to ask this," she said. "But do you not have a plan, Shirou?"

"I have an idea," he answered. "But nothing with details." He stuck his hands in his pockets to give them something to do. "Let's check out some stores."

Saber sighed. "Honestly," she said. "Please don't take offense, but how can you not have a plan for this? You were so set on it to begin with."

That wasn't a good sign. If Saber was complaining now, then the atmosphere and attention was getting to her far more than it looked to Shirou.

"I've always wanted to object to your lack of planning, Shirou," Saber continued. "You are very aware of those around you, but you treat yourself too carelessly. As a result, you have to pay for this discrepancy." Saber stopped for a moment. "Are you listening to me, Shirou?"

Something odd was in his pocket and the sensation was distracting. "I am," he answered, honestly. "Basically, you're not happy about being here right now, right? I guess that's pretty natural you wouldn't like it, since it's pretty obvious it's going to be boring going anywhere with me."

Saber's annoyance promptly shattered at that. "I…" she said. "That is… I am saying that now is not the time to be doing such things. You were so certain earlier, and to see that you didn't have a plan is disheartening."

Shirou sighed. "I know," he admitted. "But I'm still set to do this, as long as you are okay with it. If you say you don't want this to be a date, then I'll think of something else. If you have a complaint, I'd like to hear it now so that I won't have to worry about making you unhappy."

Saber looked slightly embarrassed. "N-no," she said. "I don't think you need to go that far. I… um…" She fell silent.

The thing in Shirou's pocket had finally driven him crazy enough for him to pull it out. It was a silver plastic card with a pair of paper clips on it with notes. The front note read: _Use this. It's on me. Have fun today._ Shirou flipped it over and read the back note, which said: _Chivalry, thy name is Knight._

"What is it, Shirou?" Saber asked.

"A cryptic note," Shirou answered and tried to puzzle out the meaning. The card itself was a credit card, but with no marking to indicate a company. All it had was a magnetic strip and a number.

The first note's meaning was clear. Someone wanted to cover the potential costs of the date. The second note, written in different handwriting from the first, was the odd one. What did chivalry have to do with this? Opening doors for Saber wasn't likely to find make her want to stay. She probably wouldn't even think anything of it.

He put the notes in his pocket and made a mental note about the credit card. He wasn't exactly a fan of receiving charity, but he was also fairly sure who the card belonged to.

He held out a hand for Saber, palm up, for her to take. There was a moment of silence before Saber spoke.

"T-there's no need to hold my hand, Shirou," she said.

"I don't want to waste time," he told her. "So we'll probably be running for a while. I don't want us to get separated."

"Yes, but-" she said and stopped. Her cheeks flushed slightly and she gave him her hand. Shirou smiled and the made their way through the crowd.

* * *

The next two hours passed by in a blur. Shirou had decided that the best way to find something fun for Saber was to take her to as many different places and do as many different activities as possible.

He took her to a boutique that he didn't usually go to, and afterward he took her bowling, explaining the rules as they played. He avoided the movie theater but took her to a park where they fed some birds.

Several things became clear in those two hours. Saber's base mood and outlook weren't likely to change easily. She stayed largely the same no matter where she was taken and Shirou was starting to get worried that she was upset with him.

Saber also got extremely into contests. If she was put into a competitive setting, she became single-mindedly determined to win. If she lost, she wanted to try again until she won. Not only that, but she drew far more attention than she wanted and would grow uncomfortable.

The final thing he'd realized, was that he really didn't have a clue what he was doing. To be fair, it wasn't like he went out on dates himself, or went out much.

At about noon, Saber reminded him that it was time for lunch and he took her to the only piece of advice Rin had given him.

"What is this place?" Shirou complained as they were brought to a table. The restaurant was very… pretty. The tables had crisp, white tablecloths, small glass vases with flowers in them, and, overall, the place looked very expensive.

Shirou reflexively pulled out a chair for Saber as he ogled the establishment and then took a seat himself.

Saber had an odd expression on her face as they were handed menus. Shirou had a moment of panic until he saw the meals were listed in Japanese as well as English. Granted, that didn't mean he had a clue what kind of food was listed on the menu, and the prices were ridiculously high as well.

"It's like I'm on another planet," he groaned as he examined the menu.

"Shirou," Saber asked. "Did we not come here to eat lunch?" Saber's voice was, not so much weak, as it was quiet.

"Yeah," he said. "But it's too different from what I'm used to." He glanced up and saw Saber sitting across from him, looking like a rabbit that was about to bolt for cover.

"If this place is not suitable for lunch, then let us return home. I prefer the food you make, Shirou."

"Do you want to stop?" he asked.

"No," Saber answered. "I don't want to stop yet, but… today has been exhausting so I'm more tired than usual."

"Oh," Shirou said, feeling crestfallen. "I was hoping to go back into town after lunch, but if you're tired we can rest here for a while."

Saber shook her head. "Tired is not what I meant to say. A better word would have been-" There was a small gurgling sound from her side of the table and Saber looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I was trying to say that it might be helpful if we ate lunch quickly."

"Good point. It's less adventurous, but we should order something safe and eat quickly."

After they finished eating, they settled back enjoyed tea and coffee, letting their meal digest a little.

Shirou was enjoying some coffee, but Saber had ordered English tea and appeared to be enjoying it immensely. Shirou didn't have any English tea at his house, and he used instant tea bags anyway. He'd have to take that into account the time he went shopping.

Other than that, there really wasn't anything different about Saber. She didn't look happy or bored, simply… natural.

She sat straight in her chair and sipped her tea with practiced ease and regality. Something about that tickled in the back of his mind. The second note came back to him. _'Chivalry thy name is Knight'._

Saber was a warrior, and she always presented herself as such. But it was difficult to see that in this context. When Saber sat there, drinking tea, she didn't give off the aura of a swordsman. It seemed unnatural to look at her and picture her fighting.

But she did fight and obsessed over it, despite the fact that she looked more calm and natural when she didn't fight.

"Have you thought of anywhere you might want to go?" he asked.

"Me?" she asked and shook her head. "No, I have not. I cannot tell, so I will leave it up to you."

* * *

Shirou paid for the meal with the credit card that had been given to him. If it was going to serve any sort of purpose, it might as well be to cover the cost of the expensive restaurant that Rin had suggested.

After that he proceeded much like he had that morning, going to every place he could think of. It wasn't quite as hard as it had been in the morning, though. There were even moments when he caught her leaving a shop with light steps.

Once a couple of hours had passed, Shirou played what he hoped was his trump card for the date.

"Shirou," she said. "This is…"

"The biggest stuffed animal shop in town," he answered. "I've never been in here before, so I thought we'd try it out together."

Stuffed animals of all shapes, sizes, and colors were set out on displays and lined the shelves. Lions, tigers, bears, dogs, cats, reptiles, fish, animals of all descriptions out for purchase.

As always, Saber's simple presence drew attention, but since many of the people nearby were girls, Shirou drew more. He was okay with that, since it would help keep Saber more comfortable.

"Well," he said ignoring everyone, men and women alike, except for Saber. "We should look around. Is there an animal you like?"

"I think that lions and panthers are lovely," Saber said after a moment. Her cheeks were slightly pink has she made the admission. "Is that strange?"

Shirou had to fight back a burst of laughter. He turned his head to avoid making eye contact with Saber.

"I feel like I should be angry at you," Saber said, her voice threateningly level. "Perhaps I am simply imagining it."

"Sorry," Shirou answered, still suppressing laughter. "Liking lions is so like you, I had to laugh."

A dangerous light flashed in Saber's eyes. "There's nothing wrong with lions!" she protested.

"I said I was sorry," he replied. "I was just an image that popped into my head. It fit so well."

They made their way around the store for an hour, seeing maybe half of what was available. They likely could have covered the entire store in that time, but Saber kept pausing in frozen admiration at the animals on display.

They made their way down more of the store before Saber spoke to him.

"Shirou," she said. "Are you tired? You've been sighing."

"Yeah," Shirou admitted. "I'm not used to places like this, so I'm a little tired." He glanced at her. "How about you, Saber? This is your first time in a place like this."

"I have been fine," Saber replied. "Though I've noticed that you look uncomfortable. If it were just for here, that would be understandable, but the last few stores we have visited have gotten the same reaction from you.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable, Shirou. Have you been choosing places that you do not wish to visit?"

Most of Shirou's discomfort vanished. The fact that Saber was nervous about asking that question, which her tone implied, meant that she was, at least on some level, enjoying herself. But her desire to protect him would get in the way of that now that she'd noticed.

"Yeah," he answered. "If I'm being honest, I have been choosing places I don't like."

"But, why?" Saber asked.

"Because we've been nothing but fighting for about two weeks now," Shirou answered. "And I wanted you to enjoy the city while the fighting had stopped. And it's the guy's job to take a girl he likes out to places she might find fun."

Saber froze for a moment, seemingly rocked by something unexpected. Then her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I am a Servant, Shirou. Even when I am unarmed. You don't need to treat me like a woman simply because we are out."

"But you are a woman," Shirou told her. "And it's not like I've been treating you any differently than usual."

Saber didn't answer. She glanced at her hands and, strangely, flexed her left thumb.

"I think I am done with this store, Shirou," she said and made her way to the exit. Shirou stared at her for a moment, before setting to a quick task and hurrying after her.

* * *

 **Author's note: -sigh- Those two really are just a pair of lovestruck dorks, aren't they? Pretty straightforward chapter this week. But things are about to get a little more… interesting, so some down time is definitely good.**

 **Coronadomontes: Hey, it's been a while. :) Thanks.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	55. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

 _Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation._ \- Max Euwe

Rin found Harry in his workshop setting up his alchemy equipment and other supplies for item creation. Shirou and Saber had been gone for about an hour now, so she guessed that he hadn't maged to bungle the date right from the start.

"Back into production mode?" she asked.

"Yep," he said. "Given Barnett's skill, I want you to have another escape potion in case he decides to be more direct in his next attack. I doubt Medea will expect it, either, so that's all the more reason to have that at the least." He turned to face Rin. "Something up?"

"Sort of," she said and nodded her head toward the scale model of Fuyuki. "I was wondering if you'd give me the explanation behind the model there."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Really?" he asked.

"I'd be an idiot if I didn't take advantage of your knowledge," Rin said. "I've watched you work with it and I want to be sure I have the basics understood before I see if it's possible to replicate it."

"Fair enough," he replied and sat down. "The principle in itself is pretty simple. The model works to amplify my use of thaumaturgy. By making something happen on a small scale, you can, with enough power and a proper channel, make that thing happen on a large scale."

"Simple enough," Rin agreed. "Though I've never heard about magecraft like that before."

"Sure you have," Harry said. "When you hear stories about voodoo dolls, that's an example of thaumaturgy in pop culture. If I got a hold of some of your hair, blood, or fingernail clippings, I can use that as a way to send magic out in the world to affect you specifically. With just those, I can whip up a spell to track your location and guide me to you. But if I have something else to incorporate into the spell," he nodded toward the model city, "I can do a lot more. I can track where you've been, or watch what you're doing in real time. If I have your hair on something like a sacrificial animal or a doll, I can do all sorts of other nasty things to you."

Rin was rocked by the potential possibilities. "Such a simple art can do that?"

"It gets really technical the more you try to do with it," Harry explained. "Maintaining something like Little Fuyuki takes a considerable amount of time and resources. Thaumaturgy is all about making connections to things. When I was alive, I had to go out into the city and take pieces of everything Little Chicago modeled. Bark from the trees, chips from the buildings, asphalt from the roads, that kind of thing. And I had to keep updating it as the city around me changed."

"So, what if you worked with something smaller?" Rin asked. "Like just a model of my house?"

"It'd certainly be a lot easier to keep up to date," he answered. "Your range would only affect the house, but it'd be easier."

"So thaumaturgy is extremely versatile," Rin murmured. "How viable do think would it be using magecraft?"

Harry opened his mouth and then his posture went completely stiff. His staff was in his hand in an eyeblink and then Rin felt what had set off the wizard.

Less than a second later, there was an explosion from somewhere else in the house and the crack of an extremely powerful rifle.

Rin and Harry ran out of the guest house and saw part of Shirou's home on fire, the kitchen, if Rin remembered the layout correctly. Her gaze shot around, assessing the situation on the run. She caught a flash of red as an armed and armored Pyrrha shoved someone into the dojo and slammed the door shut. There was a large hole in the wall beside her.

Fire and what looked like a bullet hole. _Tony Barnett and Sinon_ , Rin thought. It looked like the Cowboy had decided to come to them this time.

"Rin," Harry growled. "Move!"

Rin sprinted toward the main building and the ample cover it provided. It might not matter with the powerful rifle that was Sinon's Noble Phantasm, but it was certainly better than what the guest house provided. Pyrrha passed her as she ran, not moving toward the house instead making her way to the front of the property.

The Lancer's logic was obvious. If she'd shoved Sakura into the dojo, then she had to make herself a more appealing target in order to keep the girl safe, regardless of the risks toward herself. Granted the fact that an Archer with a rifle had missed the Lancer spoke volumes of her ability to sense and evade danger.

Harry all but shoved Rin through the porch and into the house. "Get that fire out," he told Rin. "And make sure Illya is alright."

"Right," she said and hurried toward the kitchen. She threw open the door to the living room and saw that the kitchen was a destroyed ruin. The explosion, likely a spell from Barnett, was probably supposed to be more explosive than something meant to burn. The fire that had started had been a side effect of the detonation, not the intent.

Rin quickly pulled on her gloves and ran mana through the channels worked in to the white fabric. Moisture was pulled from the air and water streamed out from her hands and began to douse the fire before it could really take hold.

 _Emiya's going to be pissed,_ Rin thought. _He loves that kitchen._ At least the house wouldn't burn down.

There was a rushing sound as a green blur passed the still open door to the living room. Link was taking to the field as well. _At least Miss Fujimura has already left the house,_ Rin thought. _We won't have to worry about erasing her memory._ Granted that had probably been part of Barnett's plan as well. He followed the rules of the War: no witnesses. Apparently he had interpreted that as a challenge to fight when no one was around, regardless of what time of day it was, so he wouldn't have to hurt anyone or mess with their heads. Rin could admire that. It was the sort of planning she often took into account.

Something nagged at Rin and she chased the thought down as she finished quelling the fire created by the explosion.

Barnett had decided to attack their stronghold. Harry's defenses hadn't gone off, which meant neither he nor his Servant had actually stepped onto the property. There was no way that the wards could have been torn down without either of them noticing.

But, even if they had torn down the wards, there were three Servants here. Four, actually. The only reason that they had three was because Saber was out on a date with Shirou right now. They were heading for New City, so there was no way that either Saber or Shirou had sensed what was going on.

Even without Saber, three Servants were more than enough to stop just about any assault. So what was Barnett thinking?

 _He's too smart to attack without a clear plan,_ Rin thought. _So why would…_

There was a surge of mana in the air, with a power and intensity of focus that could only mean one thing.

 _A Noble Phantasm_ , Rin thought. There was no distortion of the world, so it couldn't be Dresden's. _Is it Link's or Pyrrha's?_ she thought. She hadn't seen either of theirs yet, and given how many of the Secondary Servants worked, she couldn't even hazard a guess to what they could be.

A woman's voice called out as the pressure from the mana grew. _**"Bullet of Bullets!"**_

The sense of Harry, Pyrrha, Link, and Sinon all vanished from Rin's perceptions. Rin froze as the fire was finally extinguished and the truth of the situation fell on her.

Someone had just deployed a reality marble. Given the lack of an aria, it must have been one of the Servants. Given the targets, it had to have been the enemy Archer. If one of their Servants had decided to use the Marble, they would've left at least one Servant out to try and deal with Barnett himself or whatever Servant he had as his primary, except that he didn't have a primary. They'd either been accounted for or couldn't be his according to Illya.

She ran for the front of the house. Things had just gotten very bad, very fast. Their only choice now was to try and take out Barnett before whatever was in that Marble destroyed their only way of winning this War.

Rin's irritation was reaching its peak by the time she neared the front of the house. It was a brilliant plan. Daring and risky, but brilliant. Get a bunch of Servants in one spot and then deploy a powerful Noble Phantasm to wipe them all out at once. That strategy, if successful, would almost always knock at least two Masters out of the War, and force them into competing against each other for any Servants who lost their Masters. It would also leave multiple Masters vulnerable to attack, without their Servants to defend them.

Another voice echoed around her, the familiar drawl of Barnett's accent.

 _"_ _The world is but a reflection of that which we hold dear,"_ he chanted. _"Every surface shows our fears and hides that which we love."_

 _An aria,_ Rin thought with alarm. Spells with actual arias were far more potent than spells with single word incantations or with no real incantation at all. The more lines the aria contained, the more powerful the spell was. Arias weren't much more than a form of self-hypnosis, a way to trick the mind of a mage into performing the magecraft they wanted to do. The more the mind needed to be persuaded to do something, the more daunting the result was going to be when the spell took off.

 _"The mirror can tell no lies but those we tell ourselves. A world of endless hearts, a world of endless hells."_

Rin reached the front door and her hand suddenly lost strength as she felt what was happening around her.

"He's," she said, her voice awed. "He's empowering a ritual _as_ he's building it?" The flow of mana around her was too dense to be a mere spell. It was far more powerful than anything she'd seen from him yet. Rituals required set up in order to work, special materials and rites to help the spell gain momentum. The world fought against magecraft, and the more powerful a spell was, the more the world pushed back against the mage.

But Barnett was doing most of the ritual work on the fly. He had to have set _something_ up ahead of time, or else he wouldn't even be able to try and pull the ritual off. But he was doing something like 70 or 80 percent of the work right there on the spot.

 _Because of Harry,_ she realized. _If he had sensed the spell being built, he could have torn it apart. That why he deployed the Marble, to keep the one person who could stop him away from his working._

 _"Welcome to my Origin, welcome to my fate."_

Rin forced herself to admit something. Barnett was more than just good, he was amazing. This act was undeniable proof of that fact. He was a first class mage who had at least as much power as she did. And he clearly had a hell of a lot more experience than she did.

Iron will made her grip stronger on the door and she started to open it. It didn't matter if this guy was the most capable and powerful mage in the universe. It didn't matter if he was better than Merlin a dozen times over.

He was in her city, and putting her Servant's life in danger. She would confront him and destroy him.

 _"This is my world of truth and lies, my heart of love and hate."_

The world seemed to shimmer and became flashing light and crystal.

* * *

Harry stood in a vast chamber of utter darkness. He spun around, his shield bracelet out and ready to shield in an instant. But there was nothing. No enemies, no sign of friends, nothing except the darkness. He couldn't even sense their positions or presence.

That in of itself wasn't a good sign. He'd been with Pyrrha and Link not a moment ago. He'd been preparing to attack and then there had been a blast of powerful magical energy and now he was standing in the cliche room of darkness.

Hopefully they were alright. Now he just needed to get his bearings.

He quested out with his magical senses and didn't pick up on anything odd. All he sensed was the vast emptiness. The only form of life around him was himself.

 _Lash?_ he thought.

 _I am here, my host,_ came the reply.

 _Groovy,_ he thought. _Where the Hell are we? What happened?_

 _It would appear that we are in a reality marble,_ the shadow replied. _Sinon apparently has quite the Noble Phantasm at her disposal._

 _A reality marble?_ Harry asked. _A literal pocket dimension? Servants can use those?_

 _It is less a pocket dimension,_ the Fallen's shadow clarified, _Than it is a projection of one's inner reality onto the world around them. This marble represents the core of Sinon, the crystallization of what she is, what she has done, what she believes. It is a different affair when it comes to Heroic Spirits, but the principles are the same. It might make more sense to you to think of this as Sinon's own section of the Nevernever, such as what any mortal has when they dream._

 _So she'll have the home field advantage,_ Harry thought. _Even if she doesn't know it. Which she likely does since this is her Marble._

White light suddenly shone from behind him and Harry turned to see a glowing white number counting down, square icons circling the display like the hands on a clock.

The countdown started from the number 60 and progressed down, lowering each second. That meant he had one minute to get something like a plan together for whatever hell was about to be unleashed in his general direction.

Sixty seconds is a ridiculously long amount of time, when measured in the units of life and death. Harry readied himself for mayhem.

50 seconds. His staff was ready in one hand, his blasting rod in the other, both shining with light.

45 seconds. With a shake of his wrist, his shield bracelet was free of the duster's sleeve and the metal shield charms were ready to employ magical defenses.

40 seconds.

 _"I was born from blood spilled,"_ Sinon's voice echoed around him.

 _The aria,_ Lash supplied. _The words tied to this act of high magic._

 _"Forever stained and forever scarred."_

35 seconds. The revolver was in his pocket. Harry was regretting not having a holster. It would shave a precious second off the time it would take to draw the gun and use it. Thankfully it didn't need to be reloaded. The Grail was funny like that.

 _"Forged from gunsmoke and steel,"_

30 seconds. Something rippled through the air around him and his body felt… lighter. Not as if gravity was lessened, but more as though his physical form simply didn't weigh down on him. It was an odd sensation, but easily dismissed.

 _"Reborn within the virtual world,"_

25 seconds. Something flickered into existence at the bottom right corner of his vision. A display of some kind. Three dark squares next to three dark rectangles. The topmost square had an image of a pentacle while the rectangle next to it read _Harry Dresden_ with a white bar below it and a blue bar below that.

 _"I am two souls within one mind,"_

20 seconds. The second square was collection of small images that, Harry realized with a flash of insight, corresponded to the elements he worked with in his evocations. The rectangle next to it was a small white image of his staff.

 _"Two hearts with one will,"_

15\. The third square was a white image of a flame and the rectangle was of his blasting rod. So the display had his name and the weapons he had at the ready. So what the Hell did that mean?

 _"Two names, now one,"_

10\. Something appeared in one of Harry's pockets. He jumped, not expecting the sensation and reflexively reached in and pulled it out. It was a small electronic device made of a tough, light plastic. It was leaf shaped, starting at a rounded point at the bottom before flaring out into a broad shape and rounding out to circular lense shape at the top. A button on the back was flush with his finger for easy access.

 _"Join me in the world that set me free,"_

5\. This was going to be a long, bad day Harry decided.

 _"Welcome to the Bullet of Bullets III."_

* * *

 **Author's note: Surprise! I'm doing an American Thanksgiving special! Also: Surprise! Our favorite mage cowboy has stopped by to say hello to all the Servants who thought they were getting a day off. :)**

 **Lord of Memory: Let's face it, Shirou's never going to change. At his core, he will always be that loveable dork. :D**

 **PasiveNox: I'm really happy that you're enjoying this story. I was also quite surprised by the sudden, and still going (even as I write this note) review bomb. I also need to shout out you for dropping and then surpassing my 100th review on this story. Thanks. :)**

 **Pun Meister: Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. There are some** _ **very**_ **subtle hints as to who it is, but there will be a clear answer in time.**

 **It's American Thanksgiving, everyone. And I have to say thank you to you all. Things have gone up and down as I've been working on this story, but every review, every follow, every favorite, and every** _ **view**_ **from you guys is something I am thankful for. Not everyone leaves a mark saying that they're enjoying this story, and there's** _ **nothing**_ **wrong with that, but I know you're there and that means the world to me.  
Let's keep going on this adventure together. Let's see this Holy Grail War to the end.  
If you're in America or are American, enjoy your Thanksgiving. If you're not, have a wonderful day.  
We all have things to be thankful for, and today is as good a day as any to remember and celebrate that. I'll see you guys on Sunday.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	56. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

 _Always temper the first rule of power tactics; power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have._ \- Saul Alinsky

The world became a wide open field with green grass spotted with the occasional hill. Apparently mayhem decided it was going to have a pleasant atmosphere.

Harry spun his staff and kept his gaze shifting. He was completely exposed out here. The grass was tall enough to crouch and hide for a normal person, but he was better than six feet tall and wearing a black duster and a stupid hat while carrying a big stick. He wasn't going to be able to hide in the grass.

A veil wasn't going to do him much good either. He'd never been that good with them and without some shadow or existing cover to help him, he wasn't going to be able to hide well.

So he had to start moving. God and Sinon only knew what was waiting for him inside this reality.

He took off toward a city he could see in the distance. The quiet atmosphere kept his nerves on edge and his will ready to flash out with destructive or defensive magic. Given that this was a Noble Phantasm, why wasn't there any chaos?

 _What are you playing at?_ Harry thought.

His instincts suddenly screamed at him and he spun, his left arm out and his shield already coalescing before him in a solid barrier of force.

Then the damnedest thing happened.

A bright red line appeared in the air, ending in a circle where the plane of his shield came into being.

A second later a bullet flew through the air and stopped dead as it met his shield. Then more lines appeared followed by gunshots and the barrage of lead was stopped by the power of his shield.

There was a gasp of surprise and Harry dropped the barrier. _"Fuego!"_ he shouted, pointing his blasting rod at the figure crouched in the grass. A jet of blue white fire flew from the rod and blew its way through the gunman.

The figure shouted in alarm, but it didn't simply drop to the ground like it should have. Instead the figure rose to his feet and, holding a rifle to his shoulder, moved away from the burning grass, and lined up his shot and tried to fire again.

A second jet of flame caught the gunman, and this time he stayed down. A moment after he dropped to the ground, a red rectangle appeared over his body, helpfully showing the word 'dead' with a small arrow pointing to the figure.

Harry eyed the prone form warily. Real life was never that candidly useful, and he suspected some kind of trap. There was a faint sound of movement and Harry spun again to see someone else rising from the grass. This guy's gear was completely different from the first one's, but he also held a rifle and was opening fire.

Harry didn't bother with fire this time. He lifted his right hand and clenched his fist, bringing the force rings on his hand into alignment, and released one the bands on a single ring.

The blast of force knocked the gunman off of his feet and his gun went spiraling away from him. When he didn't see a dead message, he chased after the gunman. The guy rolled to his feet and pulled a pistol from a holster at his side.

Harry drew his 500 revolver and they fired at the same time. Harry turned out to be the better shot. His shot took the gunman in the chest while his shot hit the spell layered duster.

The bullet put the gunman down for good that time, another helpful message appearing over the body.

"What the hell is this place?" Harry asked himself as he went to examine the newly made corpse. The body was dressed in body armor, boots, and a helmet which were styled in a kind of 'tough guy' look. He wasn't that much tougher than the average bruiser or thug.

 _Except that the fire didn't kill the first guy right away,_ he thought. It had taken a follow up on this guy too to keep him down.

His eyes flicked toward the images at the bottom corner of his vision. They'd changed. The image of his staff now showed his revolver with a 4/5 in place of the symbols. Also the blue bar below his name had become slightly smaller.

A horrible thought came to him and he experimentally reached out to draw in more magic from around him. Nothing happened.

He could still feel his own magical energy, but he couldn't use the world around him to draw in power. There was no life for him to draw ambient magical energy from.

 _Of course there isn't moron,_ he thought. _This is a Reality Marble. A constructed reality. Nothing is real here. Just things that are real enough to kill you._

A cold feeling ran down his spine and he set off toward the city as quickly as he dared. He wasn't going to be able to draw in more magical energy while he was in this marble. That meant he was going to be able to do only so much magic. Once that was gone, he wasn't much more than a guy with a gun.

He could draw on the Winter Mantle like he did against Kuzuki, but it didn't make him bulletproof, and if the first two guys were any indication, there were going to be a lot of gunmen heading his way.

He needed to find cover and figure out where Link and Pyrrha were. And he was going to need to find another weapon. Magic was useful, but if he had a limited supply, then he was going to be in trouble soon enough.

He was making good time to the city, the border of which was coming up. In fact, moving seemed easier than it was supposed to. He ran, and not simply because it was healthy. He ran so that, when the situation required it, he'd be _good_ at running. But the effort to move was almost non-existent.

He put more effort into his jogging and moved with amazing speed. He slowed to a stop at the edge of the city.

"Huh," he said. "That's odd. I didn't even need the Mantle to move that fast."

Something slammed into his back at incredible speed. The impact spun him and he saw more red lines followed shortly by bullets. Someone had opened fire.

Harry continued the spin and flared his duster in front of himself, the spell-layered leather stopping the bullets like it had so many times before. This was starting to get ridiculous.

"How many idiots with guns are there?" he demanded. "Find something better to do!"

The gunfire stopped, but he didn't hear the sound of reloading. This guy was apparently smarter than the first two. But he could start firing the second Harry tried to move or could reposition or he could-

His instincts screamed at him once again and Harry shot forward, calling upon the strength and speed of the Winter Knight as he did. His vision seemed to blur slightly with how fast he started moving, but he noticed the small metal sphere flying to where he'd been not a second ago.

 _Grenade,_ Harry thought. It didn't look like one of the fragmentation grenades that Ramirez liked, but the shape was distinctive.

He slammed his fist right into the jaw of the gunman and sent him flying through the air and landing with a heavy thud. Then he pulled his revolver again and took aim. As his finger rested against the trigger, a small green circle appeared in his field of view, expanding and shrinking.

Harry ignored it and used the iron sight on the weapon to aim, squeezing the trigger. He missed, the bullet driving itself into the ground by his foot.

The gunman hurriedly got to his feet and Harry fired again. The gunman dove in a roll just as Harry fired, dodging the bullet and coming to his feet with a pistol in his hands.

He and Harry fired at the same time. Harry's bullet hit him center mass, and the gunman's shot slipped just past the duster and slammed into him.

The gunman dropped and Harry checked how bad it was. There was a glowing red circle where the bullet had struck, and that was it. There was no blood, no pain, not even the strange sensation of the Mantle blocking the pain. But the white bar below his name had shrunk in size.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked himself.

* * *

Link flicked his sword to remove blood that wasn't actually there and looked around for more targets or lines.

A wind blew past him, carrying the desert sands with its passing. That was the second person he'd fought already. The guns had been unexpected, but easy to account for once the surprise had passed. Those lines that stemmed from the weapons before the bullets came were certainly helpful. He was fast enough and strong enough to dodge them or even stop them with his sword and shield. For some reason, the one who had had the shotgun hadn't expected Link to simply use his shield to stop the blast before cutting him down.

What was worrying him was that he couldn't access his equipment like he could before. He could pull his bow and the Master sword with his shield, but nothing else.

He ran through the sands and pulled out the strange plastic device from a pouch on his belt. There was nothing to interact with on it except for a single button on the back. He'd pressed it earlier and nothing had happened.

It had been given to him, so it had to be important, he just didn't know how yet. With no better ideas, he pressed the button again.

The lense at the top lit up and a large map projected itself before Link, circles appearing all over it an instant later. As he moved, a green circle moved in the section labeled 'Desert sector' at the same time.

Link slid to a stop and the green circle stopped too. He cautiously reached out and tapped the dot.

A name appeared over the dot. Link.

 _It's a map,_ he thought. _It's a device that tracks everyone's positions._ So everyone probably had one, but why?

He started tapping dots as rapidly as he could, trying to get a sense of where everyone was and who else was around.

It didn't take him long to find both Harry and Pyrrha, but they were too far away to be of any help to him. Harry was off in the prairie sector and Pyrrha was in the forest.

Before he could think more on it, he noticed another dot making its way to him. A quick tap showed him the name 'Kirito'. Whoever this guy was, he was making his way to Link in a hurry.

Link stashed the device in his belt pouch to use later. He'd just have to try and find Harry and Pyrrha as soon as he could. But right now he had bigger problems. He turned to face the direction his next opponent was coming from and readied his sword.

A dark figure crested a dune not much later and the two of them met eyes. The figure, a rather effeminate looking man, pulled a familiar rod from his side and a beam of purple light sprang from the rod.

Link's eyes narrowed. It was the same style of blade Sinon had used on him. Given that this man had drawn it immediately, he was likely skilled with it.

"Fine," Link said. "If you want to use swords, then we'll go at it with swords. _**Blade of Evil's Bane.**_ "

The Master Sword came to life in his hands, the sol shining from the sword in a clear declaration of his location and in a far more powerful reflection of the enemy's blade. He didn't have time to waste. There had been over two dozen points on the projected map. He, Harry, and Pyrrha were severely outnumbered.

The swordsman in black smirked and the two of them shot toward each other in a blur of color.

* * *

Pyrrha ran through the forest, spear spinning in her hands and cutting bullets out of the air as she charged her attacker. The man let out a surprised curse as she put out an extra burst of speed and ran him through with her weapon.

The blow didn't shed blood, but rather left a bright red mark in his chest. She pulled Milo out and spun the spear's shaft around her body and slammed it into him. The gunman was knocked to the ground in a sprawl and Pyrrha drove her spear into him one final time to keep him down. A dead marker appeared over him.

"I'm sorry," she said as took up her spear. "But I have to get out of here, and I can't leave you standing to shoot me in the back."

She'd already learned that lesson with her first target. Unconscious wasn't an option, which made her hope that these people weren't real. As a Huntress she would have to kill people who brought the Kingdoms in danger if it couldn't be helped. But that didn't make her happy about it.

She pushed the concern aside. She had to get out of here. She couldn't sense Sakura, and she didn't trust that at all. If she couldn't protect Sakura, then any number of unpleasant things could start, things she and Rider had been able to make an effort to prevent up until now.

Rider was gone, and Shinji had disappeared. That left only a pair of dangers to Sakura, and her presence was hopefully enough to keep them in check.

But, she wasn't _with_ Sakura right now. Fear gnawed at her gut and she started moving again. If she couldn't find a way out, then she'd cut down everyone in her way until she found Sinon and forced her to end her Noble Phantasm.

Something buzzed past her ear, the silent projectile knocked off course by the power of her own Noble Phantasm flowing around her in a protective field.

Pyrrha spun and brought her spear and shield into a ready position. That shot hadn't had a line like the others. With an effort of will, she sent a blast of her semblance out in the direction of where the shot had come from.

Sinon had made a mistake in trapping her here. Everyone she'd encountered used guns, and guns were a hazard that she had been able to stop for a long time. Someone who had been hidden was sent flying by the burst of power she'd released.

She surged forward and dispatched him quickly. Just as she finished, there was a flurry of red lines to her side. Pyrrha spun and thrust on hand forward, her arm glowing black with her semblance's power.

The bullets all stopped in mid air and then shot back toward the shooter killing him rather effectively.

"Sinon!" Pyrrha shouted. "Let me out of this! I have to get to my Master!" There was no reply and Pyrrha grit her teeth. If she could simply find the archer, she could maybe explain. He couldn't know about it if she told someone in here, right?

There was a sudden flash of white through the trees and a tall, thin figure wearing lots of white charged her, a shotgun held in one hand. Pyrrha hurled her shield in his direction, but the man ducked away in a fluid motion and continued to come at her.

Pyrrha shifted Milo into it's rifle shape and opened fire. The man in white dodged her shots with grace and changed the direction of his charge, leaping and launching himself off of the trees and their branches.

It was quite the acrobatic display and Pyrrha had to admire the skill involved. The man landed and opened fire with his shotgun and forced Pyrrha to start moving to avoid being hit. While her bullet shield trick was effective, she still needed to practice with it and she didn't want to use up her aura's protection against every opponent. The longer her aura held out, the greater her advantage would be against Sinon herself.

The man in white was persistent and Pyrrha went onto the offensive. She waited until he made another acrobatic leap and then hurled her spear toward him, leading her target just right.

There was another buzz through the air and something struck her spear just as it left her hand. The bullet impact knocked Milo into a spin that rendered her throw useless, allowing the man in white to land and level the shotgun at her at near point blank range.

Light shone behind the man and then something heavy slammed into the back of his head, knocking him right into Pyrrha. The Lancer rotated and grabbed the shotgun as the man fell over, leveled it at him and fired.

The man collapsed, a dead icon appearing over him and Pyrrha turned to see Harry Dresden standing in an open doorway of light, holding an automatic rifle like a baseball bat and looking very annoyed.

He grabbed Pyrrha and yanked her through the door, the gate closing behind her. Pyrrha barely had time to yank her weapons to her with her semblance before the gate closed.

"I figured out how to make the plastic thing work," he said as he dropped the rifle. "It's a GPS."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said, dropping the shotgun. "But why did you grab me? Why not get out or look for Sinon?"

"We can't leave here," Harry answered and pointed her toward a building for cover. "It's a Reality Marble. This is our world until Sinon says otherwise or we die. And I don't think I have what it takes to fight Sinon on her home turf, not with the Marble limiting my magic. I can't afford to open another Way or I'll be useless and you had a mongolian horde of goons heading your way."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said again. She pulled out her own device. She clicked the button, but nothing happened.

"It's on a timer," he said. "It went away after I figured out how to make it work. Lash says that it's probably on a repeating cycle."

Pyrrha blinked. "Who's Lash?"

"Long story," he answered. "I'll explain later."

"Where's Link?"

"Hopefully fending for himself in the desert. We've got to make our way to him. You ready?"

"Yes."

"Great, let's get moving."

* * *

Link was impressed. This Kirito was quite the skilled swordsman, and Link was fairly certain that the young man he was fighting was a Saber class Servant in his own right. He wouldn't want to face him in an actual battle for the Grail. He wasn't completely sure if he'd be able to survive the experience.

Link ducked under a swing of the light sword and leapt back and away from the swordsman. Kirito didn't give him time to gain ground, surging forward with a burst of speed and thrusting his sword in another attack.

Link blocked the strike with his shield and light blazed from the conflicting equipment before they separated.

There hadn't been anymore gunman since Kirito arrived. Whoever else was in the Marble was probably going after Harry and Pyrrha. All Link had to do was wait until his awakened sword could do her job.

The two swordsmen leapt toward each other once again and they became nothing more than blurs as they swiped their swords and the blades clashed. Link bobbed his head away from a well placed swing of Kirito's sword, the blade of light passing so close that he could feel the heat from the weapon on his cheek.

Link turned the evasion into an attack of his own, spinning and driving his leg into Kirito and forcing him away.

"You're quite good," he said. "I've rarely fought swordsmen of your caliber."

Kirito gave him a grin. "You should see me when I have a better sword. This one's too light for my taste."

"It gets the job done, though," Link said. "I've had to make do with wooden weapons against good steel. But nothing quite beats this sword." The Master Sword still shone with sunlight as Link spun it into a ready stance. "I wish I could go all out on you," he continued. "But this Marble won't let me."

"But you're still holding back," Kirito told him. "You're hiding something."

Link shook his head. "I'm not hiding it," he said. "I'm just giving her time to work."

Kirito's stance shifted at that, become warier. He wasn't a fool. He sensed something was off. Link smiled.

"And I think it's time to show you what I mean," he said.

He and Kirito leapt for each other again, and time seemed to stop. A figure of blue appeared in his vision, a figure he knew from one life, and whose touch he knew from dozens.

She spoke in a calm and rational tone, and performed her duties as she always had. She gave him a complete tactical analysis of the fighting style of the swordsman in front of him, down to the percentage likelihood of the outcome of the battle.

Link smiled as the knowledge met with the instinctive understanding given to him through the Triforce of Courage.

Time sped back up and the two of them began to clash. Now that he'd been told what to look for, Link could see the patterns in Kirito's fighting style. The movements that indicated certain sword techniques he'd noted earlier.

He began to predict where Kirito's sword would be and was able to counter the attacks far more effectively and his counters became far more deadly as a result. He began to press his advantage and force Kirito back.

The swordsman wasn't stupid. Link could see the burning drive in his eyes, the knowledge that Link had gained the upper hand and the desire to overcome the limitation regardless of the odds.

Link felt a thrill run through him and he wanted to savor the fight, he wanted to see this man defy logic and win.

Their fighting became more and more intense and they stopped trading banter. They spoke with their blades and songs of their fighting styles. The world fell away for them and they simply fought, each side trying to overwhelm and destroy the other.

Several red lines suddenly went past him and Kirito broke from their exchange and spun his weapon in a complex sequence that sliced the incoming bullets from the air.

Pyrrha hurled herself at Kirito and forced the swordsman in black away from Link. Pyrrha thrust one hand forward and Kirito was blasted off of his feet and sent spinning through the air away from them.

A flash of completely irrational annoyance went through Link at the interruption, but one look at the expression on Pyrrha's face made it vanish.

The Lancer was scared, and not, Link suspected, at anything in the Marble with them. As near as he could figure, Pyrrha hadn't suffered a single scratch in the time they'd spent inside Sinon's Noble Phantasm.

He was covered with red lines from where Kirito had been able to land glancing blows, the small white bar under his name having reduced in size at the time, and the other swordsman had had similar wounds. Pyrrha had no such marks.

Harry was next to Link a moment later. The wizard was holding a rifle in his hands and his staff was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Link," he said. "Sorry to break up the party, but we have incoming."

"Define: incoming?" Link asked.

"Uh, well," Harry said. "Everyone."

"We need to go," Pyrrha said, her voice a controlled calm.

"First, let's survive," Harry said. "Then we can get out."

The triforce on Link's hand suddenly blazed to warning light. He acted on complete reflex and leapt forward, shoving Harry to the ground. "Pyrrha!" he shouted in warning.

Something flew right over Link's head and went straight for the Lancer, and missed. The bullet simply swerved to one side and blasted right past Pyrrha's head, barely missing the girl as it drove itself into the sand and creating a small cloud on impact.

Pyrrha spun toward the source of the shot and surged forward in a run. Her green eyes were shining with a furious light that was beyond fear. Link's own eyes went wide at that.

Something was scaring the Lancer enough to make her forgo fairness and even her own survival. He didn't know much about the girl, but if something was motivating her to that extent, he suspected that it was dire indeed.

"Sinon," Harry said, rising to his feet. "That shot had to be her." The wizard let out a grunt as something struck him at high speed and he fell to the ground.

"Harry!" Link shouted. The wizard only groaned and Link spotted something sparking in his shoulder where it had slipped in past the duster.

Link grabbed the sparking thing and ripped it out of Dresden. It was an oddly shaped bullet. There was the sound of another round striking something solid and Link spun to see Dresden back on his feet, his magical shield up and blocking fire from a shooter he couldn't see.

"Harry, behind me!" Link said. Harry dropped the barrier and went back to back with Link as the saber lifted his shield. _**"Shield of Hyrule,"**_ he said and the metal shield became a solid barrier of energy.

"There's another sniper," Harry said. "And that swordsman's going to be back soon."

"Make that now," Link said and nodded his head toward the figure in black that was running their way.

"And there's quite the cloud of dust coming in from behind us," Harry reported. "Someone's booking it our way in a hurry. It looks like all of the big guys are coming out now that we're wearing down." They glanced at each other. "I don't suppose you have a nuke or something we could drop on them?" he asked.

"Nope," Link replied.

"Great," Harry said, the sarcasm hard to miss. "So how long will it take until we get overwhelmed by goons and die?"

"It'd be a lot longer if Pyrrha hadn't run off," Link said. "Something scaring her into recklessness."

"We'll just have to worry about that later," Harry said. He dropped the rifle he was carrying and his staff appeared in his hands. "Well, it's been nice knowing you man. You ready? I'm going to be useless after a couple of big spells. Then all I'll have left is my Death Curse."

Link took a deep breath. "Let's do this," he said.

The world seemed to shudder around them. Then it cracked and shattered and they were surrounded by darkness.

* * *

 **Author's note: Well, that was fun. Not to mention close. I'm not certain if I conveyed just how desperate things were starting to become right there at the end. This was a really fun chapter to write and it took a while to make sure that it came out the way I wanted it to. Namely, badass all around.  
**

 **Lord of Memory: I believe you now have the answer to your question. 30 vs 3. Every player working together against the intruders placed inside. Now picture a group of Servants and Masters who** _ **aren't**_ **working together being trapped inside that thing. Sinon is fucking terrifying as a Servant.**

 **PasiveNox: Glad you think so. I hope this chapter is worthy of that description too.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	57. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

 _There's nothing I hate more than someone else trying to control the direction of my life. My wheel is mine to hold. If I'm not the one steering the ship, then I'm not truly alive._ \- Eizen, Tales of Berseria

Rin woke up like she did every morning, blearily. She rose up from her bed and glanced at the clock through heavy eyes. Seven o'clock, there was still time to get ready for the day.

With groans, she got out of bed and made her way out of her room to get ready for today. Sakura would probably be up already, and if she didn't get moving she'd come and find her and politely encourage her to get ready for school.

Rin smiled fondly. Her sister was always looking out for her in little ways like that.

Rin hurried to get ready, getting dressed for school and making her way down to the living room.

"Rin!" Sakura called from below, as polite and kind as ever. "Did you sleep through your alarm again?"

 _No,_ Rin thought. _That infernal thing didn't go off this morning._ She tilted her head. Why hadn't the alarm woken her up? She knew fully well she wasn't a morning person, but that thing was part of the reason she was even able to get up in the morning. She supposed it didn't matter. She'd always hated the sound it made anyway, despite its effectiveness at actually getting her up in the morning.

She finally reached the bottom of the stairs to see Sakura waiting for her in the hall by the front door rather than the living room. The mirror behind her showed a bizarre tableau which Rin dismissed. The picture below it showed Sakura, herself, and her mother and father.

"Father wanted me to let you know that he couldn't see us off today," Sakura told her. "He and mother had something they had to work on."

Rin made a face, but couldn't really blame him. It wasn't like he could be a father _all_ the time. He did have to be a mage occasionally. It must have been something big if it needed her mother too.

"Oh well," Rin said. "Should we go? There should be time to meet with Emiya before archery club."

Sakura seemed to glow at the words and the two sisters set out toward school.

As they made their way down the street to the corner where they met with Shirou, Sakura danced around a puddle that Rin didn't notice until it was too late. Her step made a wooden sort of sound and she quickly pulled away from the puddle to avoid making her shoe too wet.

She gave the puddle an annoyed glare, and ignored the bizarre tableau reflected in it. She glanced up from the sight she saw Emiya waiting for them at the prearranged corner, his bag being dangled over his shoulder as he waited.

He seemed to sense her gaze on him, because he turned and gave the two of them a warm smile. Rin's heart made an odd motion at that expression, but no, that was something she'd keep away. Emiya's heart belonged to someone else, and she liked them too much to stop that flower from blooming.

She found herself reflexively checking the back of his hands and glancing at her own as Sakura greeted Shirou. She felt like something was missing, something that seemed important.

"Morning, Tohsaka," Shirou said. "You're up early."

"Good morning, Emiya," she replied. "And you know I always make sure to see Sakura off when she's not staying with you. I just decided to come with her today."

The three of them made their way to the school, walking in companionable silence broken occasionally by small talk. The morning sun reflected off of a passing car and Rin caught sight of something odd reflected in the windshield as the commuter drove by. Rin's brow furrowed in thought.

"Everything okay, Tohsaka?" Shirou asked, ever quick, as always, to notice when something was off.

She stared after the car for a moment before shaking her head. "I must be seeing things."

They split up once they hit the gate of the school. Sakura toward the archery dojo, Shirou toward the student council office, and Rin toward her classroom. As much as she wanted to chat with Mitsuzuri, she didn't want to deal with Shinji this morning.

She spent the time before classes started in her classroom, briefly joining in a discussion with Makiadera, Kane, and Saegusa.

Her classes went by without anything surprising or dramatic happening, though she grew tense around Mr. Kuzuki for some reason.

It happened during the lunch break. As she was making her way to the roof she passed by Shinji Matou. She mentally prepared herself for another flaunting display from the boy and was deciding how she should approach it when he spoke.

"Hey there, Tohsaka," Shinji said. Rin mentally sighed in annoyance as he continued walking by without saying another word. Then she froze for a half second in complete shock before spinning and grabbing Shinji roughly by the shoulder.

"Shinji," she growled.

The Matou let out a surprised noise and reflexively tried to pull away. Rin held on with iron fingers.

"What's gotten into you, Tohsaka?" he asked. "I took the hint a long time ago, you know."

"No," she said, her voice low and thoughtful. "You are many things, Shinji Matou, but thoughtful has never been one of them. Neither is bright."

"Wha-" Shinji started to say, but Rin cut him off.

"You have yet to say anything that makes me want to punch you," she continued. "Which means that you can't be Shinji Matou." She tightened her grip and dragged him to the nearest bathroom. She nearly kicked open the door and half threw Shinji in there. Then she made her way to the one thing that had been acting consistently off all morning.

The mirror didn't reflect Shinji, or what was around her. It showed a strange hallway that was vaguely familiar, but covered with reflective surfaces. She wasn't in her school uniform, but rather in her red blouse and dark skirt along with the red duster that Harry had given her.

Anger burned in her chest as she saw what was happening. There was a cracking sound as Rin engaged her switch, pouring mana through her to create a spell.

She slammed one hand into Shinji and shouted a single word in German, channeling her mana into the gloves she knew she was wearing, even if she couldn't see them.

She called on who she was, reaching within herself and constructing the spell based around her Origin.

 _'Your Origin is definitely not something to be underestimated,'_ Harry had said. _'I hope you realize just how encompassing a single word or phrase can be. Even if you limit it just one definition, the very idea of your Origin can lead to all sorts of fun uses.'_

The gloves he had made for her, with Lash and Rin's assistance, were more than just channels to allow her better use of her Element of Average One. A small portion of her blood had been incorporated into the gloves' design, carefully included in the channels woven into the fabric.

Origins were part of who a person was, and Rin knew who she was. She was stubborn, driven, and a perfectionist in everything she did. She was competitive, proud, and kept most of her real feelings behind a mask in order to keep herself and those she knew safe from everything she involved herself with, including the truth about herself. She obsessed over debts and worked to maintain them religiously.

It was hardly a surprise for her that her Origin was Order. It made sense given the magecraft that the Tohsakas specialized in: the channeling, storing, conversion, and redirection of magical energy. She always assumed that her Origin would be best used in her storing of magical energy, allowing her to better manage the energies placed inside the gems she worked with. But Harry had been the one to point out the potential that concept truly held.

Everything had structure. Everything had a process, a way it existed. Everything had Order. Even nature, the supposed embodiment of chaos and change, had a specific way it did things, a method to its madness. Everything had a cause and an effect. Everything had Order.

She reached out into the world around her, a world she now knew wasn't real and rewrote the structure of it. Dreams were simply an extension of one's mind, and she was the master of her own imagination.

Shinji, the weak point, the flaw in the world, shimmered and reshaped into a doorway. Then she grabbed the handle, threw open the door and stalked out of the dream that had been pushed onto her awareness.

* * *

Rin came to in a sudden jolt of adrenaline and quickly glanced around to evaluate her position.

She was still standing in the hall just before the door to Shirou's yard, but the hallway itself was transformed into something bizarre and beautiful. Every surface had become a mirror, and, even now, Rin could feel the pull of those mirrors trying to draw her back into the dream that she had just escaped from. She kept a portion of her awareness fixated on staying out of that dream and tried to come up with a plan.

This had to be the ritual that Barnett had been enacting while she'd been distracted by putting out the fire and while Harry and the others had been drawn away by Sinon. If she wanted to tip the scales back in her favor, she had to find a way to break the ritual.

Illya and her familiars had been difficult to fight against back in the forest. If she could get the Einzbern free, they should be able to crush even a mage as skilled as Barnett.

Rin reached out and laid a hand on a nearby wall, flipped her switch and poured mana through her gloves once again.

There was a branch of magecraft related to reinforcement known as structural grasping. It was the pulse of understanding that allowed a mage to then reinforce an object into being stronger and more efficient at its task. After all, something couldn't be improved until the mage understood how it worked.

With the gloves, Harry and Lash had explained, Rin would be able to, theoretically, perform a similar feat to the mysteries of mages.

Granted, most mysteries were expressed in the world for only a very brief moment of time, and few of them had physical structures that could be touched. If she tried to touch a jet of fire or a burst of force or the flowing energies of a summoning ritual, she wouldn't be able to read anything, and would probably be killed in the process. She couldn't touch energy and couldn't read the Order of a spell of that nature. But, Barnett had made a mistake with his ritual, a critical mistake in this case.

No mage could truly alter the world around them to such an extent. That would be a Sorcery, true magic, and the Barnetts were not one of the few families who had managed to create a Sorcery. That meant he had, like all good mages, cheated in some way.

Barnett wouldn't have been able to simply affect such a large area like this. He'd had to create a ritual, and he had bound the spell he'd made to the physical structure of the house itself. A house which she could touch, which she could observe the Order of, and spot what he had changed in order to create this spell.

 _And once I know how something works,_ she thought as her mind was slammed with a wave of pure understanding. _I know how to fix it, to improve it, and how to break it._

She was still new to this application of her Origin, so she didn't go for anything subtle. She used her Origin to find the structure of the house and was able to spot where Barnett's spell was anchored.

The ritual was large enough to encompass the entire property, bound by 13 silver spikes hidden in the ground just outside of the house's own protective bounded field.

 _Clever_ , Rin thought. _Most bounded fields would detect for active magecraft of a certain magnitude._ By placing the ritual just outside of the bounded field, Barnett had rendered any such defense meaningless, and turning a mage's own sense of security into a fox trap.

Rin continued to read all she could of the ritual. She needed to find a weak point, like within her own dream, so that she could shatter the spell.

The ritual somehow created mirrored surfaces on top of the physical materials of the house itself. It then used those mirrors to create a geas on those within the bounded field, something to keep them held in place.

 _He wasn't kidding,_ she thought with begrudging admiration. _Bounded fields are a specialty of his_. If the Cowboy hadn't been consistently pissing her off over the last several days, she might have even been willing admit that admiration to his face. As it currently stood, even thinking about him frustrated her to the point of near speechlessness.

She turned her attention back to the current crisis. It wouldn't do for things to get worse simply because she was admiring the skill of powerful mage that had an amazing ability to plan things to an intricate degr-

 _Damn it_ , she thought. _Focus! If he's holding everyone in place with a geas of this magnitude, then it has to be binding him in some way as well. It's the only way to overcome a mage's natural resistance to magic._

Not to mention the fact that running a ritual of this size and power was going to be taxing in the extreme. Rituals had a tendency to be extremely powerful and effective, but unless he had taken the time and resources to pay for the cost ahead of time by using formalcraft magic, he was going to be paying for this out of his hide.

Rin's inspection of the ritual's Order proved her earlier realization. Barnett had built the spell as he'd empowered it. He'd probably felt rushed, so had decided to set up the absolute minimum ahead of time and springing his trap.

If he succeeded in the gambit, it would be the strategic coup of the millennium. Gathering four Servants, two of which were Sabers, and wiping them out by locking them away and rendering their Masters completely defenseless? Even if he'd missed one saber by an hour, it was still impressive.

It was audacious, daring, and brilliant, not to mention completely annoying.

 _There's no way to destroy the field from the inside,_ Rin realized. _The spikes outside the house project the energy in and create a clear border that's not easy to cross._

The only way to stop the spell was to stop Barnett, and he was a skilled combat mage. But, there was no way he'd be able to know she'd broken free of the compulsion.

So Barnett was going to be vulnerable while the field was active, since he'd be assuming he was safe due to the field's effects. So this was the perfect time to teach him a lesson in irony.

* * *

 **Author's note: Shorter chapter today, but I think there plenty of fun stuff going on to make up for that. Fun fact: Rin does not have an officially released Origin. As far as Warden Myst and I have been able to tell, it has never been released or referenced… ever. So, I gave her one. And a fun one, I might add. :)**

 **Lord of Memory: Yep. It's a truly impressive Noble Phantasm. I've said this before, but Sinon was** _ **always**_ **going to be my Archer. She's by far my favorite character from SAO, and I am giving her her time to shine in this story.**

 **Naruto: And now you see the secret behind the Blade of Evil's Bane Noble Phantasm. Unlike the Links in the various games, Servant Link can wake up the sword's true potential and everything that comes with it. I thought you'd like that.**

 **PasiveNox: :) Yeah, I try to keep things exciting when I have a spare moment.**

 **AmethystPone: Oh yeah, she's scary as hell. In fact,** _ **most**_ **Secondary Servants are scary as hell. Sinon's doing a great job of demonstrating** _ **why**_ **they are so scary.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	58. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57**

 _Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong._ \- Murphy's Law

Tony had never been one to judge what people were into; everyone had their kink after all. He'd had to reconsider that stance when one of them tried to kill him.

He stood out in the Japanese-style mansion's yard, focusing on maintaining the ritual, the combined effort of several years of training and practice, and consultation from only one sibling.

 _It really is the best way to keep them in place,_ he thought. _All things considered, it's a surprisingly simple ritual. Not exactly easy, but simple. I hope the dreams that they're having are least pleasant. You can never really tell with these sort of-_

"Maid!" he shouted on complete reflex, his eyes going very wide as he leapt to one side to avoid the massive halberd flying through the air toward his chest.

The massive weapon hit the ground where he'd been standing with a loud crash that was far too loud and violent for a weapon of that size.

Tony continued to move away from the weapon and the woman in the maid uniform approached it and picked it up with disturbing ease.

 _How in the hell is she walking around?_ Tony thought with alarm. The simple act of looking into any of the mirrors was enough to trigger the geas and bring them into sleep. So what was going on?

"You hurt Mistress Illya," the woman said, her grip tightening on the halberd's shaft as she spoke in broken phrases. "We fight."

She shot forward and time seemed to stop as adrenaline hit Tony's system. It felt like he had an hour to process the situation and come up with a plan.

 _Alrighty, what's the situation?_ Tony thought. _There's an angry maid about to attack me with a massively oversized and incredibly dense halberd. The geas from the Realm of Mirrors field means I can't go more than 30 feet from any edge of the field and my mana capacity is cut in half to simply maintain it. Add the maintenance from Sinon's Marble, and I'm using up almost 75% of my magic. I really don't want to kill anyone I don't have to, which was the point of the damned ritual. Now I'm going to have to pull out a trick or two if I want to do this right._  
Tony's clothing flickered with light as the runes inscribed on the fabric came to life. He ran straight toward the wall surrounding the mansion. The sound of rapid footsteps behind him told him that the maid was moving at much faster than human speed, even while carrying the halberd like it didn't weigh as much as a small car.  
 _Damn. I'm not getting any mana use from her. Add the maid uniform and I'd bet five bucks that she's a homunculus._

A homunculus in the Holy Grail War meant she was from the Einzbern, who were masters of the craft. Which meant that things had become a hell of a lot harder.  
The spurs on Tony's boots clicked slightly as he reached the wall and ran three steps up it before he pushed off. There was a discharge of lightning as the spurs flashed, sending Tony high into the air and scorching the wall in his wake.

As he arced over the maid, who turned her head to follow his progress, the veins of both of his arms lit up with a silvery light as twin beads of white flame appeared in each hand. There was a sizzling crack as the marble sized balls of fire shot toward the maid with a howl.

She dodged the first attack with a burst of speed even as she spun the flat of the halberd at the second attack. There was a roaring detonation as both balls exploded into white hot flames.

Tony landed back in the courtyard, skidding slightly, and turned to see the results of his attack. His eyes bugged out and he dove to the side once again to avoid the halberd soaring through the air, headed directly for his chest.  
"Jesus Lady! It's a damned halberd, not a javelin!" he shouted as he rolled to displace his impact. He turned to see the mildly singed maid pulling her halberd out of the small crater it created on landing.  
 _Note to self,_ Tony thought. _Do NOT get hit with that thing. I'm not sure my standard defenses can handle it._  
Tony grimaced as the woman turned to face him once again, her weapon settling into a easy combat stance. "Fine, fine. I guess I'll take this seriously," he drawled.  
Tony reached into a pocket of his combat vest and pulled out a small black plastic sphere. His body flowed into a baseball pitcher's stance as he aimed and hurled the sphere at the maid.

Even as she moved to bat the sphere away, he grinned and called out, " _Boum va la Dame!_ " and closed his eyes. Instantly, the sphere detonated with a roar and a flash of blinding white light. Tony was knocked off of his feet from the conclusive force, the earplugs in his ears sealing to save his hearing.  
Tony hurriedly struggled to his feet and shook his head, not wanting to be taken by surprise. He really, really hoped that had solved the problem right there. He'd only brought one of those grenades and just about everything else he had was far too lethal for this fight.

Blinking rapidly, he managed to clear his vision of the remaining spots to see the maid also struggling to her feet, pulling herself from the wall of the house the concussive force had launched her into. She was apparently disorientated but still able to fight.  
"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding!" Tony complained. "What in the bloody hell do I have to do to keep you down?" The maid was blinking and shaking her head, trying to shake off the magically enhanced flash bang. Tony sighed loudly and shook his head.  
 _Damn it. I have to end this soon. And I refuse to break my promise to Sinon. Guess I'll just have to get up-close and personal._

Tony took several deep breaths before he began to incant. " _Los que manejan el fuego son maldecidos por los dioses. Aquellos que controlan el fuego son bendecidos por demonios. Los que son fuego usan la Armadura de Prometeo!_ "

As his aria finished and the maid finally managed to get to her feet, golden flames covered his body. The rush of heat caused grass to wilt around him as the flames appeared to solidify into simplified plate armor around his body, his head enshrouded in a full face helm. Though he had expected it, the utter lack of reaction on the maid's face annoyed him slightly. He pointed at her and a line of golden fire shot at her, forcing her to drunkenly dodge out of the way.

She was recovering far too quickly, which was also really starting to annoy him. He was going to have to press the attack and simply pray to God he didn't end up killing the woman.  
As the maid attempted to close the distance, Tony shot another line of fire at her, even as he began to incant again.  
" _Blade with whom I have lived, blade with whom I now die, serve right and justice one last time. Seek one last heart of evil, still one last life of pain. Cut well, my old friend, and then Farewell._ "

The maid dodged the fire with most of her previous agility, shaking off the remaining effects of the flash bang. She drew closer and Tony held out his right hand. A long sword of pure silver fire formed in his hand and he swung the sword in a rapid slash, deflecting the spike of the halberd with a grunt.  
"You hit like a god damned train!" Tony complained. Even as the maid moved into another strike, Tony was blocking and attempting to counter. The next few moments were a blur of dodged strikes and flashing fire. The yard was not going to be pleasant to look at when the fighting was over.

The fighting became even more intense and Tony's reflexes took full control of his motions. Years of combat and conflict allowed his mind to ponder what was going on in front of him.  
 _Okay, seriously,_ he found himself thinking. _What is her uniform made from? The heat alone should have been causing the clothing to at least smolder. And that halberd should have been red hot, if not in pieces from the heat and force of the impacts. What kind of metal can stand temperatures this extreme!? If I wasn't fireproof at the moment, I'd be a cinder._ Maybe some magical power of propriety kept the uniform intact and away from indecency. _  
_Tony broke the pattern of attacks by gripping the 'hilt' of his sword with both hands and slashing downwards, sending a wave of fire and wind at the maid.

The maid threw herself backward and to one side to avoid the conflagration and he backed away as well to create more space.  
"You just don't give up…" He panted, shaking his head even as he settled into a fighting stance. How much longer would Sinon need?  
"Ya know kid, I've found that telling women things like that just tends to piss them off more. Take it from someone with hard experience." The humor filled male voice behind Tony startled him and he whirled, only to dodge to the side as a blood red lance thrust forward toward where his heart would have been a moment before.  
Tony jumped away from the man who had appeared behind him. Half a second later, after taking the man's blue armored outfit and blood red spear, he shuddered.  
"Oh, you have got to fucking kidding," Tony said again, his shoulders slumping slightly. "What did I do to deserve this? Nobody but Dresden should have luck this bad."

The Lancer known as Cu Chulainn grinned at Tony even as he casually settled into another combat stance.

"No idea," he said. "But it just so happens to be _my_ lucky day. Let's see how well you dodge with me."

* * *

Rin's eyes became the approximate size of dinner plates as she peeked through the door to gauge when was the best time to strike. Somehow, one of Illya's maids, Leysritt, if she remembered correctly, had broken free of the ritual's binding and was battling with Barnett out in the yard.

The speed and power from the maid was impressive, but that was to be expected from an Einzbern homunculus. No, it was Barnett's ability to dodge and counter the maid's strikes that were startling.

The ritual had be draining him considering how little prepwork he'd put into it, but he was still moving and battling at a speed to handle Leysritt and had engaged a pair of spells to give him a greater advantage.

Barnett's mana reserves had to be at _least_ as large as her own, if not greater, and he was a tried and tested combat mage. As he and Leysritt fought, Rin confirmed that he'd definitely been holding back the other times they'd fought. In fact, he _still_ seemed to be holding back.

"It's like he doesn't _want_ to kill her," she muttered. Even though it put his life in greater jeopardy, Barnett didn't press his advantages in order to kill the Einzbern maid.

Barnett released a blast of flames that forced Leysritt and himself apart and Rin lifted her arm. If there was going to be a moment to surprise him, this was going to be it. His attention was on Leysritt and whatever he was planning to do next.

She'd start with a gandr shot to distract him and then follow through with one of her more powerful gems. As the mana condensed at her hand a figure appeared behind Barnett, a familiar form that wore blue and carried a red spear.

"No," she said as the Lancer spoke and thrust his weapon forward. Barnett barely managed to evade the casual thrust of Lancer's spear and leapt back to try and gain some ground.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Barnett complained. "What did I do to deserve this? Nobody but Dresden should have luck this bad."

"No idea," Lancer replied, spinning his spear into a ready position. "But it just so happens to be _my_ lucky day. Let's see how well you dodge with me."

 _Of course,_ Rin thought, lowering her hand and easing up on her mana. _If Barnett thought of this, then anyone watching would be sure to jump in and take the glory. Killing Sinon's Master would simply add to the numbers wiped out in this attack._

She couldn't get involved now. Attacking while Lancer was standing there was the next best thing to suicidal. Even Leysritt had taken a precautionary step back, and she was the closest thing to a Servant Rin had on her side right now.

Barnett took a long, steadying breath in preparation for the coming battle, and then ran like hell in the opposite direction.

"Oh, come on!" Lancer complained and took off after the fleeing mage.

"By my Command Seal!" Barnett shouted as Lancer drew closer with blinding speed. "Sinon, teleport us the _fuck_ out of here!" There was a flash of blue light and Rin caught sight of the second Archer's form as she materialized from her own Reality Marble, grabbed Barnett around the waist and seemed to blur out of existence as they made their getaway.

Lancer stopped and watched them go. "Well," he said, spinning his spear until it was upright. "That was a colossal waste of time."

The mirrored surfaces around Rin all started to crack and then shattered as the ritual fell apart and the pressure on her awareness vanished as the ritual's binding broke. There was another distortion in the air, and Harry, Link, and Pyrrha all reappeared in the courtyard. All three of them looked like they'd gone through Hell.

Both Pyrrha and Link were panting and looked exhausted. Dresden didn't look that much better, though he seemed the less worn of the three.

Harry eyes suddenly shone as he spotted Lancer and his staff appeared in his hands. Green and silver power blazed from the weapon and he glared at the enemy Servant.

"Well," Lancer said, looking at the now gathered Servants. "That's quite unfortunate. It looks like I'm not going to be able to do anything with this chance." And before anyone could move to attack, he turned and leapt over the wall surrounding Shirou's property.

Harry glanced around and, once it was clear that Lancer was gone, said, "Stars and stones, what the hell happened?"

Rin explained quickly about what had happened, though she kept out the details of what she had seen in her own enforced dream.

Pyrrha's face went completely pale as Rin spoke and she shot toward the dojo with blinding speed.

"What's that about?" Link asked.

"I don't know," Rin answered. "I'll talk to her later. What happened on your end?"

"We spent a good half hour trying not to get shot," Harry answered. "Apparently Sinon's inner world is all about guns and changed laws of reality."

"Half an hour?" Rin asked. "It's only been maybe ten minutes at the most."

"Yeah, well the GPS she gave us went off on a regular cycle," Harry said.

"About fifteen minutes," Link confirmed.

"So her Phantasm has its own flow of time," Rin said, her tone thoughtful. "Marble Phantasms tend to be quite powerful."

"Explains why I couldn't use my magic," Harry commented.

Rin's eyes grew wide. "What?!" she demanded.

"More accurately," he said. "I could only use so much of it before I ran out. It was like I was trapped in an empowered circle."

"I guess that's possible," Rin admitted. Before she could continue that line of thought, Illya wobbled from the house, looking dazed, confused, and very angry.

Leysritt immediately made her way over to the Einzbern. "Mistress Illya," she said. "Drove enemy away. Protected you."

The broken speech seemed to finally snap Illya out of whatever she was feeling and she looked around.

"Are you okay, Illyasviel?" Rin asked.

"What happened?" she asked. "I was…"

"Barnett," Rin said. "The Master of the second Archer used a ritual to put us into some kind of dream." She glanced at the maid. "Although Leysritt there didn't seem to be affected, and I managed to break out."

Illya's eyebrows went up. "He managed to make a ritual that powerful?"

"I don't think it was anywhere near as complex as it seemed," Rin said. "I think it only looks very complicated." Then she remembered. "I should go and dig up the spikes he used to anchor the spell in place." She turned to Harry. "See what you can do to find out where Barnett went. As soon as Caster is dealt with, I want to take him down."

Link glanced around. "I think I'll try and fix up the yard. The last thing I want is to ruin Shirou's day by having come back to this."

"I help," Leysritt said. "Sella too."

* * *

It took time and a small measure of dignity for Rin to dig up the silver spikes Barnett and buried around the property, but gaining the materials was worth it. Pure silver was one of the best materials to use in ritual spells and in creating objects like mystic codes. The fact that Barnett had simply left them there was all but an invitation for a mage like Rin to take them for herself. And if Barnett didn't like it, then he could say it her face, right after she punched him for being so endlessly aggravating.

Link, Illya, Sella, and Leysritt had done what they could to clean up after the mess Barnett's battle had made. Emiya would have to deal with whatever they hadn't cleared up.

Rin was trying to think of a reasonable excuse for Taiga as she made her way toward the dojo. She had yet to see Sakura or Pyrrha since the end of the battle, and that made her feel nauseous with concern.

She reached for the door just as it opened and the red haired Lancer stepped out, closing it behind her with care.

"You should stay away for a little while," Pyrrha told her, before Rin could even ask.

"What?" Rin asked.

Pyrrha fixed her gaze on Rin. "You should leave Sakura alone until she's ready to come out. She doesn't want to disturbed."

Rin started to get annoyed. She didn't respond well to orders, and no matter how polite the Servant was acting, she was giving Rin an order.

"And she can't tell me that herself?" Rin asked, her tone harder.

"No," Pyrrha answered. "She can't."

Rin's eyes narrowed. The lancer had been dancing around a lot of questions and this had the same feel as those discussions had been.

"Why?" Rin asked.

Pyrrha didn't answer. Rin let out a breath and tried to step around the Servant. If she wasn't going to answer, then she could just figure it out for herself.

Pyrrha drove her spear into the doorframe, literally barring the path to the dojo. Rin took a surprised step back.

"I'm serious, Rin," she said, her voice firm, but not unkind. "It's best if you leave her alone for right now. If she doesn't want to see me, then she won't want to see you."

Rin met the Servant's eyes. Pyrrha's emerald orbs shone with unexpressed emotion. Anger, concern, and even fear.

That stopped Rin's irritation cold. Pyrrha wasn't acting out of malice. Something had her concerned enough to act so abruptly, despite their cooperation.

"Okay," Rin said.

"I want your promise," Pyrrha said. "That you won't go speaking to her, or have anyone else do so until Sakura comes out on her own. Please. She's had a hard day."

Rin waited for a long moment, trying to read what the Lancer wasn't saying.

"Okay," she agreed. "I'll let Harry know."

Pyrrha pulled her spear form the door frame. "Thank you, Rin," she said. "I'm sorry." Then she went into her astralized state.

Rin's eyes moved to the dojo's door and she stared at it for a long time. It would be easy to take a quick peek. Just in and out. If she did that, then she might be able to figure out what was going on.

She turned away. If Pyrrha hadn't wanted her to see Sakura, then there had to be a very good reason for it. And if Pyrrha had been willing to use force to make that point, then it was probably a very compelling reason indeed.

* * *

 _ **Myst Log: So, this is not your normal chapter. I actually wrote just about all of Tony's section, as the Cowboy is my character. This was also an experiment of sorts to make sure AgntNevada and I could mesh chapters together and have it not be super jarring. If it is, please let us know. As always, I appreciate every review, as AgntNevada does. We've poured heart and soul into this fic and appreciate all of you who take the time out of your busy lives to read it. Any questions or comments that you don't want to put into a review? Feel free to PM either myself (Warden Myst) or AgntNevada. I reply to all messages I receive. Thanks again for reading.**_

 **Author's note: We have some real Barnett combat now, not just the playing around he did with Rin earlier. Tony is a grade A badass and I hope that came across in the chapter today. Curse you and your opportunistic attitude Lancer! You robbed Sinon of her glory!**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	59. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58**

" _If you ever stumble on a treasure you didn't have to work for, throw it back. It's worthless, and not worth your time."_ \- Chief Nyanta, Log Horizon

Shirou and Saber walked home, rather than take the bus. Shirou had wanted to take the bus, if only so he could sit and rest for a moment, but Saber had asked to walk before he could suggest the ride, and he certainly wasn't going to stop her from choosing an activity, no matter what it was.

The sky was a vibrant red as the sun made its way down the horizon, accompanied by some wind. As they crossed the bridge via the unoccupied footpath, Saber let out a sound of recognition and stopped.

Shirou followed her gaze to a collection of rubble sitting in the river. A collection of steel frames and metal sheets piled in an unseemly mound blocking the beautiful view from the bridge. It had been there for as long as Shirou could remember.

"Is something wrong, Saber?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, I was simply surprised that the wreckage was still there, since I was the cause of it. In the last war, I had to use my Noble Phantasm to stop a psychotic Servant. The only damage was to the river and to that boat that was moored out there."

"You mean, Excalibur?" he asked. He made a mental note to only allow Saber use of her Phantasm in wide spaces like the river.

"Yes, but the damage was minimal, so there isn't any reason to be upset."

"I'm not upset," he assured her. "Just surprised. There's far more traces of the last war around than I thought there were. It's nowhere near as bad as what happened to that park, but it's still a surprise."

The two of them stared out at the river, the red light of the setting sun reflecting off of the water. The wind came by them and fluttered Saber's golden hair. It was one of those moments that Shirou knew, without a doubt, that would be burned into his memory forever. Saber looked beautiful in that moment, and he felt an ache in his chest by simply looking at that sight.

"Did you have fun today?" Shirou asked. He'd broken the beauty in that silent moment, but he was suddenly overwhelmed by an irrational fear that Saber would simply fade away in that moment. That she'd disappear and leave him alone.

Saber left her silent reverie of the sight before her and asked," Did you say something, Shirou?"

"Yeah, I asked if you had fun today."

Saber drew in a quick breath and turned her gaze back toward the shining river. "Yes," she answered. "I would be lying if I said this was not new to me." There was a mourning quality in those words, a glimmer of hope that maybe, someday, she'd be able to have such a moment again, just not today, or soon.

Shirou fell silent. He didn't need to ask any more. Saber's answer was obvious. He could just call it off and go home and bury this day in a deep, dark part of his mind.

"I see," he said. _What do you have to save yourself?_ he remembered. "Then, let's go again. It's not like this has to be the last time."

Saber froze, as if suddenly realizing what Shirou was saying. She shook her head and turned to face him. The message was clear, but Shirou asked anyway.

"Why?"

"I don't have to explain, Shirou," came the reply. "Servants exist to fight. A day like today is simply a denial of my own existence. I came with you because it was wise to rest, but I do not believe that I will need to rest again from now on. We still have a lot of work to do and we should not delay any longer. I would go and search out Caster or any of the other Servants if you were to order me to." Saber's eyes were full of fire, of a driving need to go and meet the field.

Anger flared in Shirou's chest and it spilled over into his voice. "What's with that?" he asked. "Do you really want to fight that much?"

"Of course. I draw closer to the Holy Grail the more I fight. The war should be prioritized over everything else. You should know that as well."

"If you really believed that," Shirou countered. "Then you wouldn't be seeking the Grail, Saber."

Her jade eyes went wide at the retort. "I've noticed how you're contradicting yourself," Shirou continued, his anger and frustration fueling his words. "You say fighting is important, but you really don't like fighting do you? You fight only when there's no other choice."

"Wha- That is not true! I don't hesitate to fight!" Saber shot back. "I will do anything it takes to win."

 _Contradiction,_ Shirou thought. _That's not a reason to fight. That's commitment once the fight is unavoidable._

"If you were that desperate for the Grail," Shirou said. "Then you could have just gone out and attacked people to gain power, just like Rider and Caster. But you don't want to do that, right?"

"That is…" Saber replied, and faltered.

"You don't like fighting," Shirou pressed. "You've fought enough battles to know that people dying is unavoidable. That's why you minimize the battles. People will die when you fight, so you try to end the battle as quickly as possible. You're frightened of creating more victims."

Saber gasped at Shirou's words and her eyes grew haunted. Then she gritted her teeth together and fire returned to her eyes.

"You are wrong, I do not fear battles."

"Yeah," Shirou agreed. "I don't think you were ever scared. But only because a king can't show fear. You suppressed it to carry on your mission. But you still fear battles.

"You were strong and good at fighting. But that doesn't mean you liked it. If you weren't scared of what happened during your reign, then you wouldn't be working so hard to undo it. You hated that you had to fight, so you've convinced yourself that someone could do it better and that you should undo everything you worked for. You say that fighting is your goal only to lie to yourself."

"Shirou," Saber said, very quietly. "I will not tolerate any more insults even from you."

"You can't stand it because it's the truth, right?" Shirou pressed. "You wouldn't be able to fight anymore if you admitted it out loud."

Saber's teeth ground into each other and the fire in her eyes became a blaze. Shirou met those burning eyes and held them. He would not back down from what he believed.

"So why don't you stop?" he asked. "Stop being a Servant and admit that you hate fighting. Embrace what you created and don't bother trying to change the past."

 _Find something that makes you happy,_ Shirou thought. _Find something that can save you from yourself._

"How ridiculous," Saber said, her voice cold and hard. "I have no choice but to obtain the Holy Grail. I offered myself to fulfill my duty as a king. I cannot allow any other use for myself. It is not a luxury I can afford."

That cut Shirou far deeper than he liked, since he'd said almost those exact same words to Rin not that long ago.

"That's not true!" Shirou shouted. "What's done is done and there's no changing that! You don't know what you could unleash by changing things! So you should leave the past where it is and focus on what's right in front of you! You can live for yourself now, and find something that makes you whole here!

"Don't go destroying what you've created and what you could continue to create by erasing yourself. You can find something, someone, to make you happy!"

 _Someone like me,_ he wanted to say. _What about the things you've done here?_

The wind came in to fill the silence that followed. Saber could have been a statue. She didn't speak, didn't move. She simply stared at him.

"I cannot accept your words," she finally said. "I made a contract to obey you, but I did not give you my heart, Master."

Her voice was firm, and formal.

"I cannot forsake my oath as King. There is a duty I must fulfill as the king. King Arthur's goal is to obtain the Holy Grail. Even if I achieve that goal, I will not return to being Arturia. I have only ever had one wish. That wish has never changed since I pulled out the sword."

"Why?" Shirou pleaded. "You've done what you could. You've done enough, you can stop now. You don't need the Holy Grail and you can't say you have the wisdom to know what you'll do by even trying."

"No," Saber said. "That is not true."

"Yes it is," Shirou insisted. "This is nothing but childishness."

The wind died down as Shirou spoke and neither of them spoke to fill the absence of sound.

Just as the wind slowly came back, like a caress on Shirou cheek, Saber spoke.

"I thought you would understand, Shirou." Saber met his gaze again, the blazing heat in her eyes had become a wall of ice. "Is that what you wanted to say after wasting this meaningless day?

"Don't be so conceited. What makes you think that you understand me? That any of you understand me? You have no right to invade who I am and what I believe.

"Do not fight? What are you saying when you need me to protect you? Please, give me that nonsense after you are able to fight on your own. I don't think that will ever occur."

"No, it's not nonsense!" Shirou shot back.

"It is nonsense!" Saber told him. "Think about myself? That goes for you as well. You don't consider your own life.

"You say I am mistaken, but you are even more so. Only corpses consider others more important than themselves. How can a fool who does not even know the value of his own life address me so?"

Shirou saw it again. The fire that claimed everything around him. The heat that burned the people, the ground, the world around him. The fire that claimed everything and still stained the world in that park. Everything, but him.

"Saber…" Shirou said, his voice hollow as he relived that day.

"Did I hurt you?" Saber demanded, her cold voice a contrast to the fire replaying in Shirou's mind and soul. "Then I will not mind if you dissolve your pact with me. You do not want the Holy Grail anyway. I will defeat the other Masters by myself and obtain the Holy Grail by myself. If you wish to hide then you go and hide somewhere far away, or use Link as your shield as you run."

The words cut through Shirou, carving a hole in him in a shape he didn't want to see.

"Saber, are you serious?" Shirou asked, his voice trembling.

"Of course. My only goal is the Holy Grail. Everything else is unnecessary. Even you, Shirou."

Anger and pain and despair flashed through Shirou, making his world white. He stop to himself from raising his fist through sheer will.

"Fine!" Shirou snapped and spun away from Saber. "If you want to fight, then go ahead and do what you want! I don't care anymore!"

Then he turned and ran. He glanced back once, and it looked like the Servant was standing there, her eyes absent and lost. He continued to run, his heart bleeding from the chuck ripped out of it.

-Interlude-

Saber stood there feeling… hollow. She was free. She could go and do what she wanted. If she could find the other Servants, she could obtain the Grail.

She didn't move.

She'd stated her purpose. She'd given her reasons. She'd been insulted and she'd defended her pride. She had to fulfill her oath, she had to save Britain from the fate she'd set it down. So why did everyone act like it was something terrible? Everyone wanted to save something with their wish from the Grail, but why did they all want to stop her?

She didn't move.

Where could she go? What should she do first? She could look for Lancer, or go after Caster. She had yet to try her blade against Sinon and her Master.

She didn't move.

She'd followed Shirou all day, even when he didn't have a plan, because she didn't know where to go or what she wanted to do. He'd tried to be so thoughtful, keeping the attention she disliked away from her, trying to find shops and places he thought she might enjoy. _You really were the most wonderful knight a girl could ever hope for,_ a voice echoed in her memory. Hadn't she taken Irisviel out and around at her request? Hadn't she shown the woman a world she'd never seen and smiled at her glee and compliments at the job well done?

She didn't move.

She stared out at the setting sun and watched the red and orange light shine off of the water. The light of the sun almost resembled the light of Excalibur, on that dark and deadly night on the river ten years ago.

"It's lonely here on the pedestal, isn't it?" someone asked beside her.

Saber jumped and looked to see Pyrrha, dressed in the casual clothing she'd been wearing the day they'd first met, leaning on the railing next to her. She was so surprised that she spoke.

"Pyrrha? What are you doing here?"

The wind blew and the Lancer brushed a lock of her flaming red hair behind one ear. "Considering how my and Sakura's day has been, I wanted to go out for a while. I decided to watch the sunset from the bridge." She suddenly looked embarrassed. "I… heard your argument. I'm sorry."

Embarrassment, anger, and… shame warred for control of Saber's mind.

"He is foolish," is what she eventually said. Her eyes narrowed in anger. Why was she still hung up on the argument?

"'Do not fight? What are you saying when you need me to protect you? Please, give me that nonsense after you are able to fight on your own,'" Pyrrha repeated. "Did you mean that?"

The repeated words stabbed into Saber's heart.

"I…" Saber answered, then stopped.

"I had to make a choice once," Pyrrha said. "I was asked to take a burden. To shoulder powers that I didn't, couldn't, understand. I was asked to undergo a process that might have twisted me into something I wouldn't recognize. I was asked to give up my life and maybe even my soul to help save the world. To become a Maiden."

Saber looked at Pyrrha. The Lancer wasn't looking at her. She was staring out into the setting sun, a descending splash of red, orange, and yellow light. The girl's emerald green eyes were lost, looking at something only she could see.

"I didn't know what to do," she continued. "That choice kept spinning around in my mind. I couldn't focus on anything but that decision, the enormity of it. I hurt someone close to me because of it. I… I killed…" Pyrrha's voice choked for a moment. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Then the Fall came, and the Grimm were everywhere, and I made my choice. I told them yes. I agreed to become something else in order to save everyone. To try and stop everything and everyone I knew from being destroyed. I agreed to become the Fall Maiden.

"Cinder got there first. She killed Amber and took the remaining part of the power and then she killed Ozpin while I ran away. I went after her to try and stop her from taking out the Beacon tower. I died trying to stop her."

The wind blew by them again. "I chose the world over myself. I shoved Jaune into a locker and sent him to safety, then I ran to my death, knowing that I might not, that I probably wouldn't, come back.

"I've spent my entire life on the pedestal. Being admired and idolized and… alone. Then I met Jaune, someone who didn't even know my name, and I was able to make a real, honest connection to people who I learned to treasure. And I set them aside to save everyone else."

She fell silent. Watching the sun continued down the horizon.

"I wish I could be with them now," Pyrrha said. "I wish, that I could at least have had time to say goodbye, if nothing else."

Pyrrha closed her eyes. "Have you ever looked at something, at someone, and wished that you could talk to them, but when you reach out for that moment, you never know what to say? Have you ever had that answer dance out of your reach, something so simple and obvious, but so hard to think of and say?"

Saber didn't answer.

"I'm not Shirou," Pyrrha told her. "But I can stand on my own in a fight. And I can tell you this much: He needs you, Saber, and I think you need him. And I think it wouldn't hurt you so much if you didn't care for him."

"Then he's foolish," Saber said.

"We're all foolish, Saber," Pyrrha said. "Love is foolish. That's why it works. Because it doesn't make sense. It doesn't follow any rules. But it's still there. It makes us say things and do things that are insane, and it makes us succeed when reason says we should have failed."

She finally turned to face Saber again. "You want to go back. You want to change things. But you have something here, something you didn't have before. You have something that you'll never have again if you take the Grail." She started to walk down the bridge, away from Saber.

"Not all of us are so lucky, Saber," Pyrrha whispered, the dying wind carrying the words to Saber's ears. Then she dematerialized, leaving Saber alone with the words of everyone spinning around in her mind.

-Interlude out-

* * *

 **Author's note: And now we've returned to Shirou and his romantic misadventures. -sigh- Those two really are peas in a pod aren't they? And Pyrrha has finally added her two cents to the situation. :)  
In other news: Holy crap! This story is over 150 followers and is has nearly as many favorites too! That blows me away that so many people enjoy this story. I hope this next arc is going to keep you all enjoying this story. Some shit is about to go down, guys.**

 **Golden Light 001: By Dresden's own admission, it's more of a Wile E. Coyote situation. He's learned not to look down when he runs off the cliff. :)**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	60. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59**

 _Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones._ \- popular aphorism

Shirou pounded down the streets toward the home cursing himself in his head over and over again. He was so furious that he had to fight not to simply shout in the street. He was already having enough trouble using his eyes to avoid hitting a pole and knocking himself out.

That would just be the easy way out.

He wasn't simply angry at Saber. If that had been the case, he could've just found something to take it out on.

 _I thought you would understand, Shirou._

She'd been standing there, looking lost, and he chose to keep running. To try and keep hold of his pride.

Part of him did understand. That was the problem. The drive, the need, to tackle a problem with all of his commitment. Saber wanted to help people she believed she'd failed. Even if it meant ripping apart anything that would make her happy.

 _Choosing to save someone means choosing not to save another._

Had he been doing the right thing? Had he betrayed the trust between them? The lines he thought had been so clear were now blurred with the tracks of tears, shed and unshed.

Shirou burst through his house and went straight to his room, not bothering to look around.

Once he'd shut the door and dropped what he was still carrying, he slumped down to the ground and simply lay there. He wanted to simply go to sleep and forget what was going on.

It was only then that he noticed how much his lungs burned and his muscles ached. He'd put all of his effort into the run and he hadn't paid any attention to what that was doing to his body. He was still full of frustrated energy, he still wanted to run, but his body simply wouldn't have it now that he'd stopped.

He took in deep breaths and started to calm himself down. Once anger had stepped away, shame came in its place.

He'd run away. He'd said his piece, been rejected, and, rather than continue, he'd run away and gone to his room to sulk and simmer in his emotions. He was the one acting like a child.

He hadn't found a way to save her, and that infuriated him. He'd wanted to show her what she could have, the opportunity she was destroying by pursuing the Grail. And now he'd left her behind.

 _But what can I do?_ he thought. _It's useless for anyone to say anything if Saber herself isn't willing to listen._

That was why he'd tried so hard. He'd tried to show her what was around her, tried to help her find something to make her happy. But she had called it meaningless. She had called him a fool.

' _Who, or what, do you have to save yourself?'_

' _Only corpses consider others more important than themselves.'_

' _I mean, come on, Emiya. You never smile.'_

 _Could_ he show Saber anything to save her? Didn't he have to have something of his own before he could help someone else?

He'd already done so much to try and help her. He'd taken a blow, he'd called on her help, he'd slept with her.

 _Why do I have to go and remember that now of all times?_ he thought, still bitter.

He was angry, bitter at her words, but he still couldn't hate her. He loved her too much to simply give up. But she didn't want his interference. She didn't want his help. All she wanted was the Grail.

If he brought this up again, would she make that face once again?

 _I'd prefer to see her smile_ , Shirou thought.

Someone knocked on the door to his room.

"Shirou," Harry said. "It's me."

Shirou wasn't sure if he wanted to answer. He was still trying to sort everything out.

"I know you're in there," Harry added, after a moment of silence. "Don't make me blast the door out of the wall just to make a point."

"Come in," Shirou said, resigned. The door slid open and the wizard stepped inside.

"Link saw you come in a while ago," he said, sitting down next to Shirou. "Since you haven't come back out in so long, he said I should come talk to you."

"Why didn't he come?" Shirou asked, sitting up and realizing that he'd been lying on his futon for a few hours now.

"He said something about letting the grown-up handle the grown up issues," Harry replied. "What's wrong?"

Shirou opened his mouth, and then stopped. He tried to speak again, but had trouble finding the words. What was the problem? What did he want to talk about?

"I'm lost," he said. "I can't save her, but I don't want to stop trying. But how can I save her when I can't even save myself?"

"You can't," Harry answered, bluntly. Shirou looked at him in surprise. The wizard shrugged. "It's the truth. I don't have to be vague or mystic to tell you that. You're having trouble seeing things clearly because you're distorted, Shirou.

"You understand, on a fundamental and primal level, what it means to lose something. You don't want the people around you to feel that loss, so you collect their burdens to make their lives easier. You put everyone, anyone, over yourself to an irrational degree. You're arrogant, Shirou. You assume that it's your fault, that if you're there and can possibly try to solve the problem, that any failure is because of an action or inaction on your part. I'm pretty familiar with the neurosis."

Harry leaned forward slightly and met Shirou's eyes. They could do that, now that they had taken the measure of each other's souls. "What you need to remember, what I needed to remember, is that you're responsible for your own choices, Shirou. Not everyone else's. If you let go of that, you'll be able to heal. You won't tear yourself apart over everything that happens around you, and you'll still be able to save people." He glanced at the clock in Shirou's room. "We can talk about it more later. It's getting pretty late, do you know where Saber is?"

Shirou shot bolt upright. "Did she not come back?" he demanded.

Harry shook his head. "Not as far as I know. I haven't sensed her around the house at least- Where are you going?"

Shirou didn't listen, he simply got up and ran. He barely noticed how dark it had gotten as he barrelled out of the house and into the street. He didn't notice the lack of people outside, though he did nearly trip over the small hole that had been torn in the road outside the house.

Saber hadn't come home. Considering their fight, it made sense. But he was haunted by the thought that Saber might have actually gone out and decided to hunt down the other Masters and their Servants. She'd be alone, without anyone to support her or fight by her side.

She might die.

That thought made him move even faster and, without any better guesses, decided to check the bridge where he'd left her. The air was cold, and goosebumps spread across Shirou in an instant. His breath came out in small white clouds as he made his way to the footpath on the bridge.

A figure stood there, golden hair seeming to shine in the moonlight. Saber simply stared out at the water, lost in her own thoughts.

Shirou stopped and simply stared at her. The contradiction in that stance was quite the surprising sight. Her figure was strong and firm, but spoke of a fragility that was hard to explain. She was like a stone statue made of glass.

She was pride that hid insecurity. The picture of regality that was flawed only in the eyes. The eyes that showed her concern, her fears, her humanity.

She was a mere mortal, who wanted to reach for stars that only gods could touch.

Saber looked lost and that froze Shirou in place for a moment. He stood there and memorized the expression on her face, the way her body stood. He memorized it so that he could swear to himself that she would never look that way again. He memorized that posture so that he would have something to compare it to, and know that if he ever saw it again, he had failed.

He walked toward her. He wasn't silent, but Saber didn't seem to notice. He stood next to her, without her noticing.

"Saber," he said. "You'll freeze if you stay out here."

She jumped, finally noticing Shirou's presence. "Shirou?" she asked.

"What are you still doing out? Everyone," He stopped himself and spoke the truth. "I was worried," he finished.

Saber didn't have a reply for that.

"Why were you out here?" he asked. "It made it easy to find you, but I didn't think you would still be here."

"I stayed because I wasn't sure where I should go," she answered, not meeting Shirou eyes. "You told me I could do as I wished, but I couldn't think of where I should go or what I should do."

Saber still sounded lost and confused. Something was clearly still on her mind.

"I suppose I should go out and look for Caster," she continued. "So that I can obtain the Grail."

"What are you talking about?" Shirou asked. "You're not coming back to the house to rest? We were out all day. We still haven't had dinner yet."

"But-"

"We can talk about it later, Saber," Shirou said. He held out his hand. "Even you'll catch a cold if you stay out here. So let's get back and eat something warm."

"But, we…" Saber started to say, but fell silent.

"We each said our piece," Shirou said. "We can talk about it after dinner. All I'll say now is that I won't apologize for what I said."

Saber looked astonished but put her hand in Shirou's. He turned to guide her home and saw Link, Rin, and Harry standing there, watching from a polite distance.

"Um," he said, his cheeks burning. "Why are you all standing there?"

"Well you looked like you were in such a hurry," Link said, hiding a smile. "I figured it was smart to make sure you didn't trip and break your nose or something. It might've made that scene a bit more awkward."

"Oh, I don't know," a woman's voice said. "I think that had just the right amount of awkwardness and romance in it."

The world around them seemed to distort the the bridge suddenly looked like a destroyed ruin. The road under their feet was cracked and destroyed and water was absolutely everywhere. The light was low and the shadows seemed to move just outside of their lines of sight.

Every Servant there was armed and armored in less than a second and had moved into defensive positions around the two Masters in a similar amount of time.

"She's good," Harry muttered, staff burning with hellish green light. "I didn't feel a thing."

Saber was suddenly lifted into the air by one leg by a skeletal creature that emerged from a nearby puddle of water. With a single swing of her sword, she scattered the creature into droplets and landed on her feet.

Then more of the creatures began to rise, quickly surrounding them.

"What the hell?" Shirou asked. Link readied his sword and shield. His eyes flicking rapidly from target to target.

Something landed between them and exploded into a cloud of heavy smoke just as the creatures charged. There was a rushing sound as Link spun and hurled his boomerang, the spiraling winds pulling away the smoke and Shirou's now cleared eyesight saw complete battle chaos.

Saber, Rin, and Harry had each taken a side and had begun to dispense with the creatures. Saber with quick swings of her sword, Harry with blasts of force from his staff, and Rin with her signature Gandr shots.

As each creature was slain, however, they began to rise again and reform, their numbers increasing the longer they fought.

"This is bad," Link pointed out, catching his boomerang and spinning the Master Sword into guard.

"We're only creating more of them," Saber agreed. Her eyes had lost their lost quality and had regained their fiery confidence. Her emotions were gone, bottled away, and only the burn to battle shone in them. That worried Shirou, but he was forced to box away the emotion as well. There wasn't going to be time for worrying.

"Yes, precisely," came the woman's voice again. They turned to see a collection of purple glowing butterflies coalescing into the shape of Medea.

A form in white materialized on the ruined remains of the bridge, hood obscuring his features.

"The more you fight within my bounded field," Caster continued as she appeared, hovering in the air with her cloak spread like the wings of a great monster. "The more mana you will expend to no avail."

"You're pulling out all the stops for us, aren't you?" Rin asked, dryly.

"I'd say this is a measured response to what we did last night," Harry said. "But it's more like she's checking our bullet with a ballistic missile."

Link's gaze locked on the figure in white. "Ezio," he said. "This is a surprise. I didn't take you for being involved with this kind of fight. You had an advantage in the forest."

"I admit this is not the kind of fight I am best at," Assassin allowed. "But Caster asked me for assistance in managing events, and I am not one to turn down aid to an ally. And I still believe I hold the advantage. More than one, in point of fact."

"He's right," Shirou said, glancing around. "If these things are being made by the water, then we're going to have a horde on our hands soon." He held out his hands. " _Trace on_ ," he said and the Master Sword appeared in his hands with a flash of silver light.

"Someone's paying attention," Harry quipped. "Not sure how good that sword will be here, but we're going to need to use everyone we can get. So no slacking off, Shirou."

"Such a valiant thought," Caster commented. "However, I might have something you'll want to see before any of you try anything."

Caster lifted one arm and Shirou's eyes went wide with terror. Rin drew in her breath in shock and even the Servants froze in place.

A form faded into sight, a feminine form slumped in stillness and completely unable to defend herself. Her dark eyes were empty of light and sightless, purple hair seeming to float in the air.

"No!" Harry shouted.

Shirou and Rin shouted at the same time: "Sakura!"

Caster adjusted her hand and almost imperceptible wires of red light surrounded the girl's throat.

"Now you're playing dirty," Link growled.

"What the hell do you want?" Harry asked, his voice low.

"I'll want you dead, soon enough," Medea replied. "You'll have to suffer for what you did to my Master. But, for now, I'm much more interested in that young boy. Your magic circuits are quite fascinating. You were the one who killed Berserker, I believe. And just now you created a copy of your second Saber's sword.

"I'd love to take them from you. You understand, I resort to these tactics because my intent is to win you over, not kill you. All you have to do is agree to become my puppet, then I swear I'll refrain from more violence."

"That's a load of nonsense!" Rin shouted. "I don't want to hear that from someone who's acting all on their own."

"That's cute," Caster replied. "Jealous much? It's such a shame, really, that I have no interest in perfect omnipotence. It's imperfect, unique abilities I seek."

The light in Harry's eyes had become something very near feral. "Let. The girl. Go." he said, in a low growl.

Caster tsked in disapproval. "See, I don't respond well to demands, and you're in no position to give them. I'd be wary if I were you, fake Caster, before you annoy me." She turned her attention back to Shirou. "What will it be, boy? Your answer?"

There was utter silence.

"I see you're a difficult child, but this should be a simple decision. I know what you're thinking, but none of your Servants can defeat me with my limitless reserves of mana. My power is being supplied to me by all the denizens of this city. It's as if I have thousands upon thousands of Masters. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"No," Saber said. "You wouldn't!"

"I would," Caster answered. "Humans may be devoid of mana, but they still have souls, don't they? We are soul eaters by nature, are we not? By taking mana in the form of life from our Masters, we may extract as much as we like."

Shirou hissed out a breath in anger.

"Are you listening to me, boy?" Caster asked. "You've no chance of winning. This is my generous offer to serve me next to the sabers."

"You're pushing him awfully hard, Caster," Harry said. "Give him time to think."

"You let Sakura go," Shirou said.

"Were you not listening to what I just said?" Caster asked, after a moment of baffled silence. Her tone was harsher now, more annoyed. "Surrender and she goes free. You're mine."

There was the barest hint of movement from Sakura. A clear sign of life, but not comfort. The girl was awake, if not aware, while her life was being used as a bargaining chip.

"The hell I am!" Shirou shouted, the sight of Sakura's discomfort adding power to his voice. "I said let her go!"

"So you have no interest working with another Master?" Medea asked.

"I have no interest working with _you_ ," Shirou replied. Sakura shifted subtly again, her eyes still dead to the world around her.

"It would appear that I got on…" Medea stopped talking as Sakura's lips moved slightly, as if she was speaking. The moment of stunned, confused silence that followed was enough for the girl's words to drift through the air for everyone to hear.

"... Pyrrha... please…" Sakura said.

There was a flash of blue light, and a red and bronze spear stabbed itself into Caster's chest.

* * *

 **Author's note: Well, that was fun. Shirou's finally gotten some good advice! Yay! And now Medea has to go and ruin everything! Yay!  
I wasn't kidding guys, shit is going down. I don't think there's really much else to say about this chapter. Happy Holidays, everyone! No matter what your faith might be, enjoy the holiday spirit. Give and receive gifts and wishes well and celebrate.**

 **Lord of Memory: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm particularly proud of that chat between Saber and Pyrrha, especially since it wasn't part of the original script. It just hit me one day that Pyrrha could connect to Saber like that, and that right there was the best moment for that chat to happen.  
And, correct, Pyrrha does not have the Maiden's mantle, since she never got the power before she died.  
All in good time. All in good time. :)**

 **DarkMatterPhoenix: Heheheheheheheheh. You're actually not the first one to suggest that solution to me. I have plans for the Holy Grail and I hope you like them.**

 **PasiveNox: And now you can the rest of the feels train from last chapter. :)**

 **Gadget boy: Holy crap, guy. You are that special kind of reader. I've only ever done that kind of thing for a few stories, and I am honored that you love this story to that extent. I hope you continue to love this story and that you'll be on the edge of your seat for the rest of the ride.  
I think you'll like what I have planned for Shirou and Arturia. Circumstances allow me to have a few more liberties with the nature of their relationship.**

 **Lawrence HBain: Sorry about that. I know some about Erza, but not enough to make me confident in making her a Servant and certainly not enough to create a Noble Phantasm for her.**

 **Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I love this story, and I hope you all love it too. This is the longest I've ever had a fanfiction go and this is one of the most developed stories I've ever written. Thank you all for enjoying this and I hope that we can make this story go even better and farther than I thought possible.  
Oh, and keep an eye out for a special treat in a few days.  
Happy Holidays!**


	61. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60**

 _It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend._ \- William Blake

Caster let out a scream of pain as Pyrrha completely appeared, her face set in cold anger. Using as the spear as a stable platform, Pyrrha rotated her body and drove her leg hard into Caster's body, sending the mage flying through the air away from Sakura.

Pyrrha pulled her spear from Caster and slashed the thin magical wires holding Sakura in place. As gravity took hold of them, Pyrrha continued her spin and wrapped her arms protectively around Sakura.

She landed on her feet and simply held the girl for a moment, speaking softly and laying one hand on her cheek in a gentle gesture of comfort.

That single moment held for what felt like forever. Then Caster furiously rose into the air once again, her cloak shining with light and the familiar circles of purple light appearing before her.

Caster unleashed her barrage straight at the Lancer and her Master. Pyrrha shot away from the assault at incredible speed, dodging beams that got too close with quick steps, always keeping the bulk of her body between Caster and Sakura.

The water golems that were scattered around everyone else went into another charge. Harry spun his staff and shouted _"Infriga!"_

The golems, that were made of water, froze instantly as Harry's spell caught them. Link and Saber burst forward, Link making a line straight for Ezio, while Saber made her way for Caster.

Shirou started to follow his Servants, refusing to stay out the melee, but he faltered after a few steps, overcome with a strange feeling. He spun to face behind them, and in so doing, was able to dodge the streak of red light that blasted toward him.

Other streaks followed, hammering into the frozen golems and shattering them. Pyrrha was suddenly next to him, placing her back to the attack and putting Sakura in his hands.

"Go," she said. "Keep her safe and get to Rin." One of the streaks of light struck the shield hanging on Pyrrha back and she let out a grunt before spinning, the shield moving to the bracer on her left arm seemingly on its own before she charged toward a figure hidden in the shadows just out of their line of sight.

Light and shadows began to mix as combat burst all around them. Golden light shone from Link's sword as he engaged his Noble Phantasm and leapt into the air to swing for Ezio. Caster was forced to redirect her attacks at Saber and Harry started to blast, freeze, and evaporate the now free water golems with his magic.

Shirou ran to Rin, holding Sakura much as Pyrrha had, and Rin covered him with well placed Gandr shots to any golem that got too close.

"This isn't good," Shirou said as he reached her.

"Tell me something I don't know," Rin replied and fired off another pair of shots. Shirou carefully set Sakura down and then pulled the trigger inside himself.

Archer's twin swords appeared in his hands in a flash of silver light. As Rin fired at the golems, Shirou leapt out and slashed any of them that got too close to Rin or Sakura, the sword technique falling into the same eerie familiarity that happened whenever he used two swords.

He glanced around and saw Link swipe at Ezio with his glowing blade. The Assassin dodged lithely and then moved back several steps, pulling out a metal sphere covered in golden lines.

"I have no choice," he said and held the sphere high. _**"Apple of Eden."**_ Golden light shone from the sphere and Shirou felt something seem to press into his mind. The light burned and Shirou felt his arms start quivering as they tried to move on their own.

Link almost stumbled as his legs appeared to stop listening to him and stopped. Harry's spells stopped flying and even Pyrrha appeared to have trouble moving.

Shirou's arms moved on their own and he held the twin falchions up to his own neck and even Rin held her hand pointing up to her chin, as if the limb was like a cocked and loaded gun.

"If you wish for you Masters to live, you will stop now," Ezio commanded.

Saber hesitated in her next strike against Caster, though she appeared to be unaffected by what Ezio was doing.

Shirou caught sight of light suddenly shining on the back of Link's left hand and the Saber's stance shifted subtly. Similarly, Harry's body tensed and he also shifted his stance.

Then Pyrrha sun around suddenly, her body surrounded by red light and she thrust one arm forward. Ezio was blasted off of his feet by unseen force and slammed into part of the bridge. The glowing globe dropped from his hand, and Shirou could move his arms again.

He immediately pulled his swords away from his neck as Rin lowered her arm.

Link shot forward with unnatural speed, his boots shimmering into a pair with wings on the run, and ran his sword through the Assassin's chest.

Ezio let out a gasp and red began to stain the white of his robes. Then, with the speed of a striking snake, a blade emerged from Ezio's bracer and he stabbed it into Link's chest, barely missing the heart as the blade pierced the chain shirt under Link's tunic.

"Link!" Shirou shouted. There was a rumbling crash as a figure in red was hurled through the air and slammed into part of the bridge. Shirou reflexively turned to look and he heard Rin gasp as the figure rose and stepped out of the cloud of dust.

"Archer?" Rin asked.

The man in red grimaced. "And here I was hoping I'd be able to spare you from seeing me a little longer," Archer said. "You're certainly not to be trifled with, Lancer."

There was a wave of cold as Harry froze the remaining golems again and turned to face the last of the fighting. His eyes narrowed as he saw Archer. Then they went wide as he glanced at Saber and Caster.

"Saber!" he shouted and shot forward.

Shirou turned in time to see Caster stab Saber in the chest with strange, jagged dagger. Rather than bounce off the armor, like Saber had probably expected, the blade sunk straight through the magical steel and into her chest.

There was a burst of twisting purple light, and Saber started to scream in agony. Shirou started to move, far too late to stop anything, and then collapsed as his left hand suddenly burned like it was on fire.

The Command Seals on that hand flashed and then faded away. As Saber collapsed before Caster, the same red light shone on Caster's own hand before forming into the Command Seals that had once adorned Shirou.

Everyone stopped and stared in a mixture of fascination and horror as Caster stepped away and began to laugh.

"What did you do?" Shirou asked.

Caster spun the dagger in her hand and lifted it for everyone to see. "I hope you were enchanted," she said, the last remnants of her laughter coloring her voice. "This is my Noble Phantasm: _**Rulebreaker**_. Magic is completely useless against this blade of denial and betrayal."

"Of course," Harry growled. "The Witch of Betrayal would indeed have such a cheap trick tucked in her robes."

"Then we were wrong," Rin muttered. "It's not the Fleece after all."

"The pact has been forged," Medea said, ignoring the wizard. "Now, I am your Master, Saber. It is time for you to betray your former Master and pledge your sword to me." She glanced at Archer. "And don't forget what your role in tonight's events is, Archer. With Assassin now gone, you don't have any excuse to keep you from dirtying your own hands."

"I am well aware of what you want of me, Caster," Archer answered. "Though Lancer's interference might make that difficult."

"Always quick to have an excuse," Caster said. "Fine then." She looked down at Saber. "Saber, slay your old Master."

"Never," Saber told her, her voice strained. "I'll never obey the likes of you."

There was flash of red light from the back of Caster's hand. "Ah, but I believe that you will, Saber." Caster said, her tone mocking. "I control these Command Seals and you can't defy me in either body or soul."

Saber rose to her feet and turned to face Shirou. Her face was twisted in pain, and her eyes shone. She lifted her sword and surged forward.

Something flashed through the air and there was an explosion at the ground just in front of Saber. Saber was blown back by the detonation and Shirou saw Link, bleeding from his wound, standing over the dead and fading body of Ezio, holding his bow. Another arrow with a burning wick was already fixed the the string and ready to fire.

"Saber might not be able to stop you, Caster," he said. "But I'm still Shirou's Servant. And I won't let you use Saber as your toy."

"You won't last much longer, second saber," Medea told him. "That wound looks fairly serious."

Link's answering smile was wolfish. "I survived our first encounter easily enough, Caster. Even with Ezio nearly killing me. You think I can't take you with me? I'll be healed soon enough unless you finish what Ezio started."

"But it won't be me you'll be fighting," Caster replied. "Now, obey my Command Seal, Saber."

Saber stood there, shaking with effort. Then she said a single word.

"Run," she told them. A tear ran down one of her cheeks. "Shirou, you have to run. NOW! _RUN!_ "

Saber slashed her sword and a blast wind tore up the ground next to Shirou, but didn't strike him.

"Saber's anti-magic is effective even against the binding of a Command Seal?" Caster asked. "But, nevertheless you still won't escape!" she said and took to the sky. "Archer!"

Archer summoned his bow and drew an arrow. Pyrrha spun her shield and spear into a ready position and then paused. Her eyes glanced up and she spun and ran for Sakura as Medea prepared to fire.

Shirou backed away from Saber until he was back with Rin and Sakura. Shirou saw Sakura weakly lifting one hand, before it dropped to the ground.

There was a strange crackling sound, like ice suddenly cracking under strain. And the bounded field started to shatter around them. The darkness of the field changed into that of the light of the city at night as the bounded field Caster had created to contain the violence of the encounter began to fall apart.

"What?" Caster demanded and stopped her attack. "How did she?"

Harry ran to the group of Masters and spun his staff violently through the air. With a shouted word, a Way opened and he and Pyrrha nearly plowed everyone through the now open doorway. Link hurried after them and leapt through the gate just before Harry closed it, the wizard delaying the action just long enough to give Link the time he needed.

An arrow blasted through the gate just as Link passed the border and rammed itself into Shirou's shoulder. Shirou cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, clutching where the red shaft had stabbed into him.

Rin immediately checked on Shirou while Harry rested a hand on a nearby wall and spoke in quasi-latin phrases.

A buzzing energy surrounded them and the wizard relaxed, slumping to the floor beside Shirou and Sakura.

Shirou was dimly aware that they were sprawled on the floor in his living room.

"There," Harry said, panting. "That should keep anyone from getting in until dawn. Unless Caster decides to use Saber to smash her way through my wards, we'll be safe." He glanced around at everyone. "Alright, who's not dead? Sound off."

"Emiya's shoulder needs to be treated," Rin said. "I think Sakura is just out of it. We'll get her into bed and she should be fine in the morning."

"I'll go get the first aid kit," Pyrrha said and hurried off to find the supplies.

"I'm fine," Link said. "Ezio didn't get a killing blow. I'll be healed soon enough."

"I don't think the same can be said for Emiya's shoulder," Rin said as she continued to examine the wound. "He's not healing like he did before. It's lucky Archer didn't kill him with that shot." Her eyes narrowed at the mention of her former Servant.

"So it was his contract with Saber?" Harry asked.

Shirou gritted his teeth to help fight through the pain and tried to sit up. Rin firmly pressed her hands against him and pushed him back down.

"Hold still, Emiya," she told him. "I'm not done and Pyrrha's not back yet."

"There's no time," Shirou said. "We have to go."

"Saber will be fine," Harry said. "She's tough. She'll be able to hold out until dawn. Until then, get some rest, Shirou."

"But-"

"We can't leave until dawn anyway," Harry added impatiently. "I activated the heavy defenses. No one can get in, but we can't get out. And nothing short of Saber is breaking down those wards. Even if Caster herself decided to try and tear them down, she's going to get a hell of a shock."

Link sat up. "Really?"

"Yep," Harry said. "So relax, Shirou. Let Rin patch up your shoulder and get you to bed." He climbed to his feet. "I'll put Sakura in her room. Then I have to get some rest myself. It's been a long day and none of us are up for another round of fighting."

The wizard carefully picked up Sakura and he carried her out of the room. Shirou watched him leave and then noticed something was off.

"What happened to my kitchen?" he asked Rin. The kitchen connected to the living room, probably his favorite, or at least one of the most used, spot in the house, was a blasted and burned ruin of its former self.

"Barnett stopped by while you and Saber were out," she answered. "He blew up the kitchen as a way of telling us he was in the neighborhood."

Link stood and handed Rin some bandages from a pouch on his belt. "I'll go tell Illya what happened and our plans for tomorrow."

Pyrrha returned just as Link stepped out and the two of them began to treat and wrap Shirou's wound.

There was nothing but an awkward silence while they worked, and then Rin asked: "So, Pyrrha. How was Caster able to grab Sakura without defeating you?"

Pyrrha's expression became a neutral mask, but her motions became more stiff. "Sakura wanted to be alone. I don't know what happened while I was fighting in the Marble, but she asked me to stay away from her for a while. I thought she was safe here behind the wards and with Illya, so I went out into the town.

"Sakura must have left the house to see where everyone had gone. By the time I sensed she was in danger, Caster must have grabbed her and taken her into the field. I couldn't find any of you until Sakura used her Command Seal." The Lancer's hands clenched into fists and she glanced toward the door to the living room.

Then she stood up. "I need to go to her."

Before Rin or Shirou could object, she left.

* * *

Rin settled down on her bed after she had finished treating Shirou's wound and forced him to go to bed. The injury was serious and the fact that Shirou wasn't healing was a bad sign. But even if the heavy defenses hadn't kept them locked inside, they wouldn't be able to take on Caster in their present state. Not when she had Saber… and Archer.

At the mere thought of her former Servant, Rin's stomach felt like it had been filled with sharp razor blades.

After all they had been through, after she had saved him and admitted the feelings she'd tried to suppress about him, he had gone to _Caster_.

The act in of itself was more than enough of a message. _I like her methods more than yours._

She had to fight the urge not to simply punch her mattress in sheer frustration and anger. But that would simply be childish. She was supposed to have more dignity than that.

There was a knock on her door, and then Harry stepped inside.

"Hey, kid," he said. "You doing okay?"

"No," she admitted after a long moment of silence. "I'm really pissed off."

"About Archer," he said.

"I can't believe that he…" She couldn't even finish the sentence. "I know he didn't approve of my decisions, but to go to _her?_ I don't know what I did wrong." She lifted her legs and set her face against her knees.

The mattress lowered as Harry sat down next to her.

"What Archer chose wasn't your fault, Rin," he said, gently.

"How can't it be?" she asked him. "He was my Servant. I used my last Command Seal and removed my ability to control him. How can it _not_ be my fault?"

"Because it was his choice, Rin," Harry answered. "Father Forthill once said that there was something Holy, something divine, in the most ordinary of events. That the good being made by a moment in time might not be obvious or even relevant to what was happening around me.

"Michael also called me an idiot. Asked me why I was expecting perfection from myself when I was clearly not perfect." Rin turned her head to face her Servant.

"Maybe you messed up, Rin," Harry said. "But can you see the future? Can you rewind time and change the past? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you can't. So why are you expecting perfection from yourself? You didn't do anything to make Archer switch sides. You didn't have any power over what he thought or how he acted. You didn't do anything wrong. You made your choices, and he made his. All we can hope for is that the good that comes from what we chose will change the world for good."

Rin stared at her Servant and was overwhelmed with a longing she hadn't felt in a very long time. She missed her father. She wished that he was able to be there, beside her, and giving her this lesson.

But, Tokiomi had been more mage than father to her. He'd tried, but his own choices had taken him down a different path than what she wished for.

Rin wrapped her arms around Harry and they simply sat there. She fell asleep at some point, feeling the warmth of Harry beside her.

-Interlude-

Kirei knelt before the altar in prayer, despite the lateness of the hour. The Grail War thrived in the hours of darkness, so he made sure to spend time awake each night, in case the battle should drive a Master into the safety of his doors.

He felt the change in the room as shadows gathered in the aisle behind him and a form rose from the ground.

"Hello, Caster," he said, opening his eyes, but not turning to face the intruder.

"I guess I should say: How do you do, my good Overseer of this fully mad ritual?" Caster replied.

"What is it you want, Caster?" Kirei asked, rising to his feet. "You know that this place is neutral territory. Regardless of which heroic spirit they may be, no Servant may be allowed entry into this space."

"It seems the rules have changed," Caster replied and she lifted her left hand to reveal the prize now adorned upon it.

Kirei finally turned to face his 'guest' and he was shocked by the stigmatus clearly visible on Caster's dark clothed hand. "What?" he asked. "Command Seals?"

Caster's answering smile was wicked. Then she moved aside her cloak to reveal her more precious reward for the night's work. Saber stood by Caster's side, unmoving, but with her expression set in one of effort, sweat running down her face.

"Saber?" he asked, recognizing the Servant that had been in possession of that man, ten years ago.

"You see?" Caster said, reaching over and gripping Saber's chin with two of her fingers, an intimate gesture colored with cruel possiveness. "Saber is now my sweet puppet," she continued, caressing the blonde's cheek a few times as she spoke. "And I hope you know what that means. The outcome of this War is as good as decided. Is there any reason why I wouldn't be able to simply claim my prize now?"

"Indeed there is," Kirei answered. "The Grail will not appear until a single Servant, or a partnered pair of Servants, stands victorious. I find it hard to believe you were not made aware of this when you were summoned into existence."

"Oh the Grail did say that," Caster replied off-handedly. "It ordered me to slay the other heroic spirits if I wanted to activate the Grail myself." She smirked at the priest. "But," she said, slyly. "That refers only to the Greater Grail, does it not?"

Kirei grimaced, but did not answer.

"So," Caster said, opening her arms imploringly. "Tell me where the Lesser Grail is. You priests are the ones who keep the key to the Grail. Isn't that right?"

Kirei's expression became a neutral mask and he put his hands behind his back. "There is no Holy Grail here," he said.

"Do you wish to die now, priest?

Kirei gave Caster a knowing smile. "You shouldn't try so hard," he told her. "You can't hide your true self, Princess of Colchis. You don't have the stomach for raw brutality."

Caster did not answer the challenge with words. Smoke condensed around the room and bone golems formed from the deep clouds, two on the ground and one dropping from the ceiling.

All three converged on Kirei simultaneously, the priest not flinching. With lightning fast movements, he slammed one fist to the side and one fist up, destroying the golems beside and above him before slamming his hand down and destroying the third directly before him.

Kirei released a slow breath and kept his gaze fixed on the Servants before him. Caster simply smiled as purple mist came into the room and more golems rose from the ground. Kirei let out a grunt as he made a count before making a break for the nearby door to the courtyard at the center of the church.

As he left the main worship hall, two more bone golems, stationed on the roof, opened fire on him with bows.

Kirei reached into his long coat, and pulled a set of Black Keys from inside. The blades formed and he slashed the two shafts from the air and launched a pair of the blades at the golems in a single motion.

He pulled out more Keys as more golems rose from vapor on the ground around him.

Caster simply sat on the altar in the main worship hall, Saber kneeling before her, and listened to the sound of combat in the courtyard. "This era has its share of fine warriors too, I see," she commented as the sound of combat drifted toward her. She laughed.

"I can't help but wonder," she thought aloud. "How long will his luck hold out?"

There was a sudden and deafening crash, followed by loud and joyous laughter. A moment later there was a second crashing sound and the entire church shook from the force of the impact.

Caster was on her feet in an instant and stared at the doorway leading to the courtyard. Then she made her way forward.

The bone golems that had been attacking Kirei were nothing more than powder, and there was a giant hole in the hall of the church, leading to the back of the building and out of Caster's sight.

-Interlude out-

* * *

 **Author's note: Merry Christmas everyone! A nice, action filled chapter today, not to mention another Servant biting the dust. Sorry about that, Ezio.**

 **In other news, we're finally into the UBW content! A whole ton of stuff is about to go down, and our secondary Servants have their share to contribute.**

 **Stelex: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far, and I wish I could hold a larger conversation with you over a direct message, but, sadly, I cannot. I certainly don't take offense by what you've said and I appreciate your desire to help make this story better.  
I realize that, yes, double summoning is not normally (or really ever) possible within the nasuverse. That's the one rule I knew I was going to have to break in order to keep the story working the way I had in mind. The only real exception, as you pointed out, is the Great Holy Grail War used in Fate/Apocrypha.  
As for the nitpicking, I was actually advised by WardenMyst to use the titles and honorifics rather than just the names (I was working mostly with the UBW anime as well at that time, which did not use titles). Unfortunately, by the time he'd told me that, I'd already written a great deal and had been posting chapters at the time. I thought it would be too jarring to make the switch in the middle of posting so I stuck with what I'd started with. If I were to go back and make edits across the board, I would absolutely use the titles and honorifics used in the VN and Japanese culture.  
Thank you very much for your advice and your thoughts and I hope you're going to stay with us throughout this story. :)**

 **Enjoy your holidays, everyone. Whether you celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or Saturnalia, or any other celebration for this time of the year. I with you all the best of days. May your celebrations be full of laughter, and joy. Whether you are with your family, or friends, or having time to yourself, I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if you are not, smile. For tomorrow shall be a new day, full of chances for peace and joy. Happy holidays!**


	62. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61**

 _The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy._ \- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Shirou woke up to discomfort and warmth. The shot he'd taken to the shoulder ached, though it wasn't the searing agony it had been the previous night. Without the strange healing factor that Saber had given him, the wound would have to heal on its own. Shirou was certain that the damage under the bandage would be ugly.

What was really odd, though, was the sense of warmth coming from one side. Something was pressed up against him. Something warm and shifting ever so slightly out of time with his own breathing.

Shirou opened his eyes and saw Sakura was under the covers with him, curled into a fetal position and pressed up beside him.

He could feel his face go bright red and he had to fight not to scramble away from her in a moment of pure panic.

 _When did she even come in here?_ he thought desperately. _Why is she in here?_

Sakura didn't move. She stayed relaxed in sleep, her breathing slow and steady. She did look very relaxed and, even in sleep, seemed more connected to the world around her than she had during the crisis last night.

Shirou carefully got up, so that he wouldn't wake Sakura up, grabbed some clothes and changed in the dressing room of the bathroom. He also changed his bandages in there. Then he made his way to the living room and stared glumly at the kitchen.

The strange dichotomy of a completely destroyed, but still sparkling clean, kitchen was a truly unique tableau. He wasn't going to be able to make breakfast this morning. That fact hurt far more than Shirou expected it to.

He turned away from the kitchen and saw some food set out on the table, a folded note set where he could see it.

 _Shirou_ , it read. _We didn't wake you up so that you would have the most time to recover. Eat up and meet us at Harry's workshop. The food is from me. I have lots of practice cooking over a campfire, though, to be honest, I can't quite remember from where._

 _Link_

Shirou ate. He didn't dawdle, but he didn't rush, either. His body was going to need fuel if he wanted to fight and eating too quickly would only create more problems.

Once he was finished, he made his way to the guest room that Harry had converted into his workshop.

Link, Pyrrha, Rin, and Harry were all waiting inside. Dawn had passed a few hours ago, but they hadn't made a run for Caster yet.

"You're awake," Harry said. "How's your shoulder?"

"Serviceable," Shirou told them. "I should be alright."

"Okay," Harry said. "Let's get you up to speed then. Pyrrha made a scout run to the temple as soon as the wards were turned off. Assassin is still there, but we don't think that's where Caster's keeping Saber."

"Why not?" Shirou asked.

"The monks," Rin answered. "Until Saber is completely under her control, I don't think Caster will risk exposing her to others, since she can't dematerialize. So she's probably going to have to keep Saber somewhere else until then, at the least. But, as long as she has Saber, Caster is going to be hard to beat. So the window of time we have is small."

"So where is Saber?" Shirou asked.

"That's what we're about to find out," Harry answered and gestured Shirou over to the model. "I'm going to run the same spell we did to find you back when Illya grabbed you. That should give us her location and what's going on around her."

"Will that even work?" Rin asked. "Their contract is broken."

"True," Harry said. "But I have a feeling there's something about Shirou that will let us get a lock onto Saber. He did summon her, after all. Not only that, but you two did sleep together and exchanged energies. It might be enough. If it doesn't, we go to plan B."

"What's plan B?" Link asked.

"I'll let you know when I figure it out," Harry replied.

"What do I do?" Shirou asked.

"Give me your hand."

-Interlude-

There was a crashing sound as several of the church pews were thrown through the air. The act of destruction served two purposes.

First, it removed obstacles in Caster's way as she searched for the Grail, since if it was already flipped over, thrown, or destroyed, then she'd checked it already.

Second, it served as a way for Medea to vent her building frustration at the fact that she still hadn't found the Grail. It was certainly better than her simply leveling the building.

She thrust one hand forward and hurled more of the furniture through the air to be smashed against the church's walls.

"Where the Hell did he hide it?" Medea growled. That calm expression the Overseer had had when he'd denied having the Grail. An obvious poker face. It had to be here, somewhere. The Church would never let go of such a powerful relic.

She needed to simmer down and there was something in the church that would definitely do that.

Caster scattered into butterflies and reappeared in a lower section of the church. Standing at the far side of the hidden hall was a figure in a gorgeous white wedding gown. White heels adorned her feet and Caster's eyes moved up the white stockings that ended in blue lace that ended just below her thighs, glimpses of which she could spot under the dress from the way the figure bent from exhaustion. The straps of the garter that ran along those thighs to the undergarments hidden by the dress.

Long white gloves travelled down the figure's arms, the wrists bound by thin wires of Caster's spell. Her hair was in a tail with a blue bow and the dress revealed plenty of the figure's chest without becoming obscene.

Saber really was a treat for the eyes, and Caster admired the display she made. But not as much as she admired the groaning sound of pain from the bound Servant. The suppressed murmur of heated arousal, encouraged by the binding placed upon her. Even her legendary magic resistance had flaws, openings that could be exploited.

Sweat ran down her twisted face as she fought against the Command Seal that had been placed on her the previous night. Her lips gasped in shame as the combined torture of the sensation placed upon her and the Command Seal worked to break her down.

Caster came up beside Saber.

"How admirable you are," she said. "Your mind can continue to defy me all you want, but your Servant body cannot resist me. Surely you can sense my Command Seals eating away at you little by little."

Saber gave Caster a hard look. The effect was ruined, only from Saber's perspective though, by the flush on her cheeks. Caster found the added color delightful.

"You wouldn't have to suffer if you simply gave in and submitted to me," Caster continued. She stepped closer to admire her work.

The dress had been her own contribution to the gorgeous tableau that was Saber. The girl was clearly in love, so it only made sense for her to wear white. A white gown to mark her purity, the hints of what was underneath to be enticing, and sensation to strip away the mask and reveal what was buried inside.

Saber instinctively tried to move away, but the bindings prevented her from moving her body more than an inch, and her legs never moved at all.

"My stubborn Saber," Caster chided. "You know what, though? I like a girl like you. Golden hair, small, nimble body, that boyish gallant figure, so young and noble minded, and your loyalty to that little star you hide in your heart: love. It is so cute how you choose death of betrayal."

She ran her hand down Saber's exposed back in a gentle caress, then moved her hand to the girl's rear, hidden just under the pure white dress that was bunched together there due to Saber's posture.

"Honestly," Caster said. "You make me feel like crushing you." She pulled her hand away.

It would be a simple matter, as well. Saber was barely holding on against one Command Seal. A second would work instantly, shattering the remains of Saber's defenses and making the girl hers in a flash.

But that would remove the fun. She was a lovely tool, and with a beautiful appearance and great ability. Saber was a precious jewel, and there was no joy in shattering it with impatience where time would yield better, pleasurable, results.

"And so," Caster said, leaning in close and whispering in Saber's ear. "I will make you become my Servant by your own will, by choice. I will start by breaking down your heart piece by piece."

She would shatter the girl's love, twist it and turn it into a display of utter lust. She would turn that precious star into an endless desire for pleasure.

The thought made Caster smile.

"What is it you're doing, Caster?" another voice asked.

Caster spun from her position to face the newcomer. "Master Souichirou, why are you here? I thought I requested you that you remain at Ryuudou temple where you can be safe?"

Her entire posture had shifted upon her Master's arrival, becoming far more contained, more reserved, almost embarrassed at being caught, like a child caught going through a drawer they'd been specifically told not to. She made her way to her Master as she spoke, separating herself from Saber.

"Answer my question first," Kuzuki replied, closing the distance between himself and Caster.

Caster reported on the previous night's events. Her capture of Saber, the other's escape and the loss of Ezio, and the disappearance of Kirei during the attack. How she'd sent Archer out in pursuit of the damned priest, but all Archer had been able to find was the passage of a truly large being before all traces vanished in the middle of the nearby woods.

What the priest had called upon had likely disappeared and then he had made his own way to safety using conventional means of camouflage.

She did not hold back anything in her description of events.

"So you didn't come back because you couldn't locate the Holy Grail?" Kuzuki asked, once Caster had finished.

"Y-yes," Caster replied, her voice conveying guilt at her own independent actions. This was the unintentional power being Kuzuki's permanently neutral bearing and emotions. He acted like a mirror, reflecting his opposite in a conversation's emotions back onto them and preventing them from hiding their true feelings.

"I believe I have the jist of it," Kuzuki answered. "Now can you explain why you acted on your own?" The teacher's voice didn't leave the emotionless near monotone it always had, but the effect it had on Caster was profound.

"I humbly apologize," Caster said, without sarcasm. "But my actions were all for you, Master. My one and only goal is to help you achieve victory in this War. I can assure you, that is my only motive."

"I see," Kuzuki replied. "In that case, you may not want to leave until you've found it. Search every inch until you're satisfied. Until then, I shall also remain here." Kuzuki made his way toward one of the few pews in this section of the church that hadn't been blasted into scrap and sat down.

"Oh, no, that will not be necessary, Master," Medea assured him. "It could take quite a bit of time to locate the Holy Grail. You should return to Ryuudou temple. It will be much safer for you."

"You have a point," Kuzuki allowed. "But if I did, then I would not be able to achieve my own objective."

"Of course, but what objective?" Caster asked.

"Be quick about it," Kuzuki told her. "If it is not here, then so be it. I don't care how you accomplish it, all I need is the result."

-Interlude out-

"Got her," Harry growled as he ended the spell. "You should have stayed at the temple, bitch. I wouldn't have been able to watch you."

"Where is she?" Rin asked.

"Kotomine church," Harry answered. "She's got Saber locked down and is looking for the Grail. Let's get ready to go while she's busy and not thinking clearly. I don't want her slipping away again."

There was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal Sakura. She passed her gaze over them and then glanced down.

"You're going to save her, aren't you?" she asked, her voice almost sullen.

"Yeah," Harry said.

Shame came to Sakura's expression. "I've only made things worse, haven't I?"

"No," Pyrrha said, quickly. "You haven't done anything wrong, Sakura."

"Caster used me," Sakura told her. "She used me to hurt Shirou. If I hadn't told you to leave me alone, then he wouldn't be hurt right now."

"We don't know that for certain," Harry said. "But Caster can't come into the house without making too much noise. You'll stay here with Illya, Sella, and Leysritt, to make sure no one tries to break in. Pyrrha's going to stay too."

Sakura shook her head violently. "No," she said. "If you're going after Caster, then Pyrrha's going too. Caster needs to pay for what she did to my Shirou."

Harry's eyes grew intent and fixed Sakura with a hard stare. The Matou, however, didn't back down. She met Harry's eyes squarely and he broke the gaze first, before a soul gaze could start.

"If Pyrrha goes, then no one will be here to protect the house," Rin said.

Sakura didn't back down. "If Shirou is going out to get Saber, then Pyrrha's going with him."

Rin opened her mouth to argue more, but Harry set one hand on her shoulder. "If Pyrrha leaves with us," he said, his voice firm. "Then you have to promise me that you won't leave the house at _all_ while we're gone. That's the deal. If something, _anything_ , happens here, no matter how small, you Command Seal Pyrrha back here. Do you understand?" Harry spoke spoke in a tone of absolute authority. He didn't make threats, or demand something to guarantee Sakura's obedience. The tone of his voice said he didn't need to.

Sakura paused for a moment, then nodded her agreement. She nodded to Pyrrha and then left the room.

"Let's get going," Harry said and turned to face the others. The left the workshop and Harry opened a Way near the church, Sakura standing on the doorstep as they departed/ The shadow left by Sakura twisted and writhed as everyone walked into the Way.

* * *

Shirou, Harry, and Rin walked up to the church and saw Archer standing outside, waiting for them.

"Knowing you as I do," he said. "I was certain you'd show up before too long. So then, what little plan have you cooked up? I hope that you won't be trying to use Dresden to get past me. I've seen him fight, after all. Or did you come to make idle chit-chat until dark?"

"No," Link said as he joined Rin and Shirou. "No, Harry's got other things to do. You're going to be fighting me."

"I see," Archer commented. "Yes, using your remaining saber here is certainly intelligent, if only to keep him away from Caster."

"He won't be fighting alone," Pyrrha said, as she materialized beside Link.

"Oh," Archer said. "This is certainly a surprise."

"Let's go," Harry said. "Caster will be expecting us inside, no doubt."

Link drew the Master Sword and his shield, while Pyrrha's spear and shield appeared in her hands.

"A broad daylight attack?" Archer asked. "How audacious."

"We're thinking about calling it the Barnett special," Link batted back. He spun his sword and readied himself. "We want to see how much fun it is."

"The barriers around the church should keep everything hidden," Harry told them as they went toward the church. "So have fun, you two."

 **Author's note: Slightly shorter chapter this week, but things are about to go boom, so I'm okay with that. :) Archer is going to have a fun, fun time. And we also have some other stuff building in the background. We're hitting some really fun content here and I can't wait for it to come out.**

 **We're over 150 favorites and we're starting to get closer to 200 follows! That is amazing! Thank you! Thank you all so much for your support for this story.**

 **Also, I will be taking next week off, so there will not be a chapter next Sunday. Sorry about the delay, but some stuff is going on so I won't be able to work on this story for bit.**

 **Lord of Memory: You are a very welcome and there's certainly some fun things planned for him, too.**

 **Naruto: Interesting. Very interesting. Unfortunately, you are incorrect. Thank you so much for continuing to guess as more clues reveal themselves. It really makes me think that the lack of knowing is building some kind of suspense, which is something I'd like more practice on. I will say: There is a clue that I don't think anyone has noticed yet.**

 **PasiveNox: And more is still to come. :)**

 **KombaiHound: Oh, I have some fun things planned for Harry and Archer.**

 **Michas: I'm going to assume you're referring to Medea there and reply: I guess we'll see.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	63. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62**

 _Confidence is ignorance. If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know._ \- Foley, _Artemis Fowl_

Harry led the way through the church to find Saber. Maneuvering the building with the assurity of long practice, even though he'd never entered the building physically. It probably would've been unsettling, if Rin and Shirou didn't know about the spell he'd used with the model.

It had been a way to track down Saber, yes, but it had also given him a great view of the building's layout in order to make his way to Saber.

No defenses activated as they walked and none of Caster's golems attacked them either.

"I guess Caster is as eager to get this over with as we are," Rin commented.

"Guess so," Harry said. They made their way down a stairway. "She does seem the type to like her vengeance up close and personal. Which is pretty stupid, actually."

"How so?" Shirou asked.

"Letting us get close means the fight is going to get off at a fair start. And fair fights are too easy to lose. The best way to kill a wizard is a sudden ambush. We counter that by being paranoid and preparing in advance when we can."

They entered the lower worship hall to find Caster and Kuzuki waiting for them, Saber's form flat on the ground behind them as she fought against her torture. Harry kept his breathing steady and kept himself from thinking about how vulnerable Saber looked.

 _If we manage to kill Kuzuki and Caster_ , a darker part of the wizard thought. _Saber could feel quite grateful for the effort we'd put out on her behalf._

 _No_ , he told himself very firmly.

"I'm surprised you came so soon," Caster said. "Have you come here to throw your lives away?"

"I came here to help Saber," Shirou replied. "I'm not going to let you torture and twist her like some sort of monster."

"She is a Servant, boy," Caster replied. "They are tools to use."

"No," Shirou answered, firmly. "She's a person. And I'm going to set her free from what you're doing to her."

"And then do what?" Caster asked, dryly. "Simply turn her back to fighting? I thought you opposed senseless violence?"

"I do," Shirou answered. "But I don't like seeing people get hurt even more. I want a world where people don't have to suffer. But, I want to see her smile even more than that. If that means I have to go through you, then so be it."

Rin and Caster gaped at Shirou. Harry smiled. "If only Michael could see this," he said. "I think he'd be proud." He set his gaze on Caster. "You could stand down, Medea. There's no reason for this to get any uglier than it already is. Give us Saber and Archer, and we'll let you live."

"I could make Saber mine in an instant, you know," Caster said. "I don't think you're in a position to be making demands or offers."

"But you won't," Harry said. "That would spoil the fun. So, as it stands, it's three on two. You're facing a wizard, a mage, and the next best thing to a Knight of the Cross."

"I'm fairly certain I've proven that neither of you are a match for me," Medea explained. "And my Master is far superior to that boy. You don't have the numbers to take me, not as outclassed as you are."

"Then you still don't have the first clue of who you're dealing with," Harry said. "Shall I demonstrate the core of the legend behind Harry Dresden?"

* * *

Link and Pyrrha stood, weapons drawn. Archer stood before them, the twin falchions in his hands, his gaze locked onto both of his opponents. His gaze settled onto Pyrrha for a long moment and his eyes narrowed.

"Two on one?" Archer asked. "Either you think very highly of me, or very little of yourselves."

"Oh don't be flattered," Link said. "This is so we can guarantee a very specific result. Either of us could hold you in a one-on-one fight. But considering the desires involved, two will be needed."

"Oh really?" Archer asked. "Are you so confident that you'll be able to handle me so effectively?"

"Yes," Link said simply. "Because I don't think you truly understand what you're up against. And I know Rin's going to have some special rant planned for you when we drag you back to her and make you beg her for forgiveness."

"Why?" Pyrrha asked suddenly. "Why would you betray Rin to go to someone like Caster?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Archer replied coolly. "I chose the path with the greatest chance of success. Once I was free of Rin's control, I had to find some way to break free of my restrictions and stay anchored here, to do what I had to do."

"Shirou," she said her eyes going wide. "You still intend to kill him?"

"I have my own goals for this, Miss Nikos," Archer said. "As, I'm sure, do you."

"How?" Pyrrha asked. "How do you know my name?"

"It's who you are," he said. "I can see that much."

Pyrrha's muscles visibly tightened. "Who I am," she said, slowly, as if she was suddenly waking up from a dream. "It's funny, I used to crave anonymity. I could never make a friend or an honest connection because I was always on the pedestal, always in the spotlight.

"And, now that I have it, I don't want it. No one here knows who I am, what I can do. I threw away the title granted to me by the Grail and chose to introduce myself by name. I chose to stay true to who I really was." Her body suddenly relaxed. "I don't have to hold back anymore. I don't have to worry about someone seeing what I can do and using it against me, or deciding that it's not fair or against some special rule. Everyone's unfair here. Here it just makes me… special. It just makes me _me_." She smiled. "I thank you, Archer. For showing me that I can be who I want to be right now, in this moment. There's no expectations, no prying eyes, no reason to hold back."

Pyrrha shot forward and thrust her spear in a blurring motion. Archer dodged with a quick motion of his own and Pyrrha followed through on her attack, slashing and spinning her spear at the red clothed Servant in front of her.

Archer blocked and countered with his twin falchions. Not a single one his counter strokes landed as Pyrrha twisted, turned, blocked, and attacked.

Archer's look of confidence was quickly changing into one of concentration as his stance shifted during the fight.

His form slipped and he left his chest exposed. Pyrrha surged forward and drove her lance to the exposed portion of Archer's body.

Archer's other arm blurred into a sure defense, expecting the blow. Then his grey eyes went wide as Pyrrha's spear slipped past his defense and left a mark on his side.

Archer kicked away from the redhead, but Pyrrha was after him, nothing more than a flame red blur as she spun and slashed her spear in a flurry of attacks. Archer went solely into defense and kept the spinning swirl of steel away.

Pyrrha suddenly dropped to her hands and knees just as Link opened fire with the Hero's Bow. Glowing shafts blazed past Pyrrha's prone form and struck Archer square in the chest. Concussions of lightning and thunder erupted from his chest and Pyrrha shot from the ground, slamming her shield into Archer's body and sent him stumbling back.

Archer regained his footing and leapt away as Pyrrha surged forward again with a slash of her spear.

"Well," he said. "This might be more annoying than I originally thought. You certainly have your share of unfair powers, Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha simply smiled and straightened from her low slash. "I told you: We're all unfair here. I don't have a true Noble Phantasm like other Servants. All I have is what I've always been able to do."

Pyrrha spun her spear and the weapon shifted and fired a bullet at the Archer in a single, smooth motion. Pyrrha continued to fire while Archer slashed bullets from the air and moved forward to fight more aggressively.

Link was suddenly at his side and slashing his sword in a spin. Archer rotated as well and blocked the slash with one of his own swords. Then he spun the other one and blocked Pyrrha's own attack from the other side.

The three of them stayed locked in a power struggle for a moment, then Link's arms shimmered and gained a pair of gold colored gauntlets. Pyrrha leapt back as Link's attack suddenly gained immense strength and forced Archer back.

Pyrrha's shield whirled through the air slammed itself into one of Archer's legs and forced him off balance. With a grunt, Archer went to one knee and spun, forcing Link's attack into the ground and allowing him to gain some distance.

Pyrrha and Link retook their respective stances and they faced off once again. Archer spun his falchions in his hands until the tips pointed down.

"Alright," he said. "I think I'll stop playing around now. It seems I won't be able to go easy on you."

Archer's swords vanished and he shot into the air, his large black bow appearing in his hands. Link and Pyrrha moved apart from each other and Archer opened fire with a barrage.

Link ran with his shield over himself and hurled a boomerang surrounded by swirling winds from under his shield toward Archer. Pyrrha danced and dodged through the rain of arrows while several well aimed shafts seemed to swerve around her and drive themselves into the ground.

Archer landed and his bow was replaced with his twin swords and he slapped the boomerang out of the air. The boomerang went spinning away as Archer and Pyrrha closed in on each other again, becoming a pair of red blurs as they exchanged blows.

The boomerang zipped back smacked itself into Archer's arm and Pyrrha capitalized on the opening and got her spear into Archer's reach and nearly driving it into his side. Archer backed away and threw his swords through the air toward the Lancer as another pair appeared in his hands and he spun to fight with Link.

The blades spinning toward Pyrrha shimmered and suddenly grew into larger versions of themselves with protrusions that almost looked like wings. She held her shield up and blocked one while she slashed at the other with her spear, the weapon compressing into a shape like a sword.

The blades detonated and sent Pyrrha flying through the air.

Link's sword and shield and Archer's twin blades flashed and spun in the air, clashing with sparks and ringing strokes of steel against steel.

"You're holding back, Link," Archer said as the two of them pressed their blades together. Archer brought his leg up in a hard kick and drove Link back.

Link regained his stance and gave Archer a significant look. "Fine," he said and spun his sword. "If you want to see me going all out, then I'll show you my best." The Master Sword blazed into a golden radiance as bright as the sun. _**"Blade of Evil's Bane!"**_ Link declared. The weapon seemed to come to life and became eager for combat.

Link spun and the Master Sword's light became suffused with a blue radiance and an arc of power slashed through the air toward Archer. Link's boots shimmered and became a winged pair before he shot forward with unnatural speed.

Archer blocked the strike with his swords and both blades shattered under the power of Link's blow, augmented as it was by the golden gauntlets on his arms. Archer let out a grunt as Link drove his shield into his chest and sent him stumbling back.

Kanshou and Bakuya were in his hands an instant later and twirling as Archer regained his balance and moved forward to engage with Link again.

The falchions met with the Master Sword and shattered with a single blow from the blazing blade. Archer rotated as Link went for his exposed chest and another blade appeared in his hand and stabbed down into Link's back.

Just before the tip of the weapon touched Link, it suddenly veered away and spun out of Archer's hand as if struck by a powerful blow. Link knocked Archer's legs out from under him and the red Servant adjusted as he fell, managing to catch his fall and throw himself upright again.

Pyrrha slammed her shield into Archer and knocked him away from Link. Then, with a shout of effort, hurled her spear straight into the tumbling Archer. The back end of the spear cracked with a gunshot and shot forward with greater speed than the simple throw.

The spear impacted with Archer's chest and fell to the ground, leaving a dent in Archer's black armor. Archer struggled to his feet and kicked the spear away in an attempt to buy time as his bow appeared in his hands.

He drew back the string and lined up the metal arrow. Pyrrha's spear flew through the air back into her hand and power radiated from Archer.

"Hrunting!" Link shouted in warning just before Archer spoke the name and fired at Pyrrha. The Lancer didn't flinch as the arrow blasted past her face and then made a wide arc through the air and then blurred toward Pyrrha once again, only to swerve aside from her at the last second and make another arc in the air before driving itself into the ground in the distance.

Archer barely had enough time to look surprised as Pyrrha charged him, spear and shield at the ready.

Archer's blades reappeared and the two Servants became a storm of sparks and steel as their weapons met in a furious swirl of blows.

Archer's normally impassive expression cracked as the exchange continued and Pyrrha's strikes and parries always seemed to be a split second faster than his own. The two Servants separated and the battle lulled.

"Something wrong, Archer?" Pyrrha asked, spinning her spear. "Or are you willing to give up now?"

"Just admiring your ability," Archer replied, smirking. "You are quite the spearman, Miss Nikos. And your Noble Phantasm is certainly unusual. I don't think anyone else has figured it out yet."

"I've had a lot of practice," Pyrrha answered.

Archer's gaze flicked toward Link, but his attention stayed equally on the Lancer before him. "You saw the arrow," he said toward Link.

The hylian gave Archer a wicked smile. "I told you," he said. "Either of us alone could take you in a fair fight. Both of us together are quite capable of wearing you out."

Archer cracked his neck. "All right," he said. "Let's see if I can make this a more even exchange. _I am the bone of my sword._ "

Dozens of blades appeared behind him and then shot through the air like bullets toward both Servants.

Link slashed his sword and an arc of blue light shattered the blades soaring toward him. Pyrrha twisted and danced and the blades seemed to simply avoid her. Archer's twin blades grew into the wing-like shape he'd used before and he hurled them into the air.

Two additional pairs of the enlarged blades dropped after the first pair toward them. Link threw his boomerang in response and it moved of its own will to the descending blades and spun them into each other, causing explosions to echo above them and out of harm's way.

Archer charged Link and the two of them exchanged blows. Link rapidly gained the advantage and forced Archer on the defensive. The two of them locked blades, the twin falchions beginning to crack under the pressure of Link's enhanced strength.

"How?" Archer asked. "You're predicting my moves far too accurately."

Link gave Archer a wolf's smile. "Because my sword's alive," he answered. "And she learns fast." Link forced Archer away with another blow and Archer continued to give ground.

More swords rained down from the air and Link was forced to stop chasing Archer so he could evade and block with his shield. Several of the very swords Archer used earlier shot through the air toward him and he was forced to make a rapid evasion.

Pyrrha charged a second after the barrage and Archer spun to face her. The Lancer's first strike was blocked, not with a falchion, but a copy of her own shield. Archer followed through with a copy of Pyrrha's own spear and it looked for a half-moment as if the girl was fighting herself.

Then the copied spear and shield were ripped out of Archer's hands by an unseen force and Pyrrha attacked Archer with a flurry of thrusts and sweeping strikes of her spear. Archer dodged with uncanny skill and landed a well timed blow with his fist that sent the girl stumbling back.

Pyrrha and Link took their stances once again and Link shot forward with unnatural speed, his boots shifting into the winged pair once again.

Archer's bow appeared and he said: " _ **Chains of Heaven,**_ " and fired a rapid series of arrows at the pair of Servants. Archer fired in pairs and each pair of arrows had a length of chain connected between them.

The shots sent toward Pyrrha began to arc in different directions, but Link wasn't as lucky. Several pairs of arrows wrapped themselves around Link's form and bound him with surprising strength.

Archer leapt into the air as Pyrrha charged him and fired more arrows at ground around them. As each arrow made impact, more chains shot from them and continued to bind Link's form.

Pyrrha's spear shifted once again and the girl began firing at Archer with the rifle. Archer's bow disappeared and his twin falchions were back, he spun them to cut away the bullets as they got close.

Link struggled against his bonds, but couldn't move even an inch despite the strength lent to him by his gauntlets. Pyrrha's rifle shifted back into a spear and she glared at Archer.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

"I believe I made this a fair fight," he answered. "He won't be able to break free. Those chains are more powerful when restraining the divine. While he himself might not be divinity or have divine blood, that mark on his hand and the blade he uses are more than enough to give the chains strength."

"Who are you?" Pyrrha demanded. "You're not a real bowman."

"I am what the situation requires," Archer answered. "My job is simply to kill or incapacitate any Servants that attempt to get to Caster. If that means employing those chains, then I do so."

"Stop dodging the question," Pyrrha said. "I can tell you're throwing Noble Phantasms at us and I'm certain they're not your own. You certainly copied Milo and Akuno as well as my combat style readily enough, so why don't you tell us who you really are."

"I think not," Archer replied. "I believe I will go do what I set out to do rather than let you stall any longer."

Pyrrha shot forward and a different blade appeared in Archer's hands. " _ **Sword of Unpromised Victory,**_ " he said and a barrage of energy was unleashed from the blade. Pyrrha ducked, weaved, and blocked with her spear and shield, but the barrage was nearly endless and she began to be overwhelmed.

* * *

 **Author's note: Heyo! Guess who's back?! Man, that break has done wonders for me in so many ways. Pretty combat heavy chapter. Pyrrha and Link got to show off some of their talents and skills. The Hero of Hyrule and the Invincible Girl. And then Archer had to go and ruin everything.**

 **DarkMatterPhoenix: I'm actually going to break form and say something directly about the path this story is going to take. The Shadow will not be making an appearance. Heaven's Feel really doesn't play well with others, so I'm only going to indulge in certain parts of that timeline. Elements will still make an appearance, but they aren't going to be comprehensive. I feel that HF is a timeline that would be more enjoyable if it was done on its own.**

 **Guest: Actually, that isn't completely true. Any spell whose aria is above a certain number of lines (I believe it is ten for an A rank Magic Resistance) will bypass Saber's protection. Also, healing magic bypasses it, so that her Master can support her in combat. What magic resistance really does is stop destructive magical energy from harming Saber. But that kind of specificity has an inherent weakness, as Medea has demonstrated here. Her spell to stimulate Saber isn't hurting her, so Saber's protection can't stop it.**

 **Hogwarts Knight: You are a special kind of crazy, and I love you for it. Reading that much in a single day says something, and I just want to say I noticed and I thank you so much for that.  
As for Medusa, well, she **_**is**_ **an interesting character. Heaven's Feel is really where Rider shines as a character, but I had to kill someone to start, and since this story is started with the Fate route, it made sense to nuke Rider where I did. I'm really sorry about that, and I hope you continue to love this tale.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	64. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63**

 _I know the feeling of confusion and betrayal. I know the feeling of fearing for my life._ \- Jason Reynolds

Neither side made the first move. The battle was going to be straight-forward. Shirou's job was to hold back Kuzuki for as long as possible so that Harry and Rin could combine forces to take down Caster.

Medea was a mage from ancient Greece. She understood magic on a level far superior to even Harry. While it was possible for Rin to hold her off on her own, Caster was by far the more potent threat. Once her reinforcement of Kuzuki was stopped, it would be child's play to stop him.

Shirou and Kuzuki locked gazes, and Shirou followed his instincts. He waited to project until Kuzuki would draw close. His hand moved toward his shoulder, as if ready to grab a weapon.

"Remember who you are, Rin," Harry said, spinning his staff into a ready position. "Remember your core. And remember what I've taught you." He smiled. "Now, I'll blast her, you smash her and we'll get a custom keychain to commemorate the occasion."

Points of light appeared behind Caster and fired in an instant as she rose into the air and Kuzuki surged forward with his blinding speed.

Caster's assault was blocked as Harry moved in front of Rin and held up his left hand, the streaks of purple light meeting a silver wall of defensive magic that simply stopped Caster's attack cold.

Shirou felt an odd sensation wash over him as Kuzuki charged and his hand shot to his back in a motion that was less fast than it was well-timed. He engaged his projection and swung the sword forming in his left hand in a single, overwhelmingly powerful motion.

Link's sword met Kuzuki's arm and the sword stroke stopped the teacher's charge. It didn't, however, appear to seriously hurt him. Caster's reinforcement, it seemed, was too powerful to be overcome that easily.

Shirou managed to back away enough to avoid Kuzuki's next strike, but it was a very near thing, and Shirou was forced to start fighting defensively.

The two went into an exchange of blows, Kuzuki snapping out strikes like a coiling snake while Shirou defended with his sword.

After a particularly quick sequence, Kuzuki managed to knock the Master Sword out from Shirou's hands. Shirou quickly projected Archer's twin swords before Kuzuki could capitalize on the opening and they went into another exchange.

Harry and Rin were in a very similar situation. Rin would throw a few gems to try and attack Caster and the Servant would counter with a power blast of her own. Harry would stop those with his shield.

"Is that really all you can do, fake Caster?" Medea asked. "Defend with raw power?"

In response, Harry lifted his staff and, with a shout of " _Fuego!"_ unleashed a blast of sulfurous fire at Caster.

Caster lifted her hand and created her own barrier to deflect and diffuse the heat and strength of the magical strike.

"Oh, come now," Medea chided. "I know you can unleash far more than that, wizard. So why are you holding back?" Harry growled in annoyance and his eyes reflexively glanced below Caster to the captive Saber. "Ah," Medea said. "You're worried about Saber getting caught in the backlash. So precision is not your forte."

Several gems flew through the air, propelled by a spell of Rin's and Caster lifted her hand to defend again. Rin's gems shattered and the energy within them suddenly writhed and twisted, the spell seeming to change completely on the fly.

"What?" Caster asked and then she weaved through the air as the modified spell slipped past her defense and nearly struck her.

 _"Arctus Spinai!"_ Harry called and needles of ice coalesced and fired at Caster. Rin pointed a finger at the ice as Caster shattered them with her response, and with a shouted German word, fired a bolt of lightning from her finger at the Servant.

The flash of electricity veered in several unexpected directions through the ice crystals in the air and stabbed toward Caster. The bolts struck Caster and then seemed to curve around her as they met some unseen defense.

There were several heavy sounds of impact and something shattered as Kuzuki beat his way through the projected copies of Archer's swords. With a grunt, Shirou projected another pair, the twin blades appearing in his hands with a flash of silver light.

The twin swords were easier to make quickly, though that left them vulnerable to Kuzuki's reinforced strikes. Rather than go for Shirou, which always seemed to draw more powerful counters, the teacher had apparently opted for destroying Shirou's weaponry, forcing him to wear himself out through his magecraft before closing in for the kill.

The two of them closed in again and Kuzuki began to strike for Shirou swords again. As the teacher's fist blurred forward, something popped into Shirou's head. An idea. It was risky, but it might distract Caster long enough for Harry and Rin to beat Caster.

Shirou held his blades in a defense, and let his teacher destroy them. Something flashed in the teacher's expression as he moved forward to capitalize on Shirou's now exposed body.

Shirou pulled the trigger, picturing a different weapon in his mind. He'd only seen it once, but the image of the blade was as crystal clear in his mind as if he was looking at it laying before him.

" _Trace on_ ," Shirou said and, with a flash of silver light, a weight pressed onto Shirou's arm. Shirou twisted his body in a lithe evasion that felt alien and familiar to him all at the same time. The full force of Kuzuki's blow was mitigated by the evasion, or rather, it was mitigated enough to allow Shirou to engage the blade concealed inside the bracer on his arm and thrust it forward into Kuzuki's torso, in an echo of Ezio's final attack on Link, before he was knocked away and into part of the wall.

"Master!" Caster shouted as she saw the thin steel blade stab itself into Kuzuki's chest. The instant Caster's attention shifted toward her injured Master for that brief instant of worry, Harry drew in his will and blasted a Hellfire infused kinetic strike toward Caster.

Medea dodged rather than blocked and the blast of force simply sailed past her and into the stone ceiling above her. Rin threw a small collection of gems and let out an aria in German as Harry backed away slightly. Bright red rings appeared around them and the crystals blasted through the air toward Caster like bullets.

Caster held out one hand and the gems that were flying toward her slowed to a stop, seemed to struggle in the air, and then shattered into useless powder.

Rin and Harry simply stared at Medea as she lowered herself to the ground. "Oh?" she asked. "Finished already? But surely you have a few more gems or tricks, yes? I recommend you keep on trying until you run out."

Harry and Rin simply stood there, watching her without saying anything.

"I see," Caster said. "You finally understand, don't you? Try as you might, you two together aren't enough to match me." She glanced over at Kuzuki and saw him standing, red staining his shirt and jacket, but otherwise fine, squaring off against Shirou once again. "The boy even got a lucky shot on my Master, I see.

"Well, this was certainly fun. It's been a long time since I fought in a real magic duel. I consider this exchange with you two worthwhile if just for that. I might even make your death less terrible, fake Caster. You certainly tried to be clever." She lifted one hand. "I suppose this is the end."

Harry and Rin suddenly smiled at the same time. "You know what your problem is?" Harry asked. "You underestimate people. _Flickum Bicus."_

There was the smell of sulfur and there was a very condensed explosion right at the cracked section of ceiling directly above Caster.

Medea glanced up in shock and reflexively cast a defensive spell, stopping the rubble and forcing it to either side of her.

Rin shot forward in a charge and slammed her hand into Caster's chest in a practiced martial arts strike. There was a sudden burst of light as Rin engaged a spell that sent another kinetic blast into Caster's chest.

Caster was knocked back and she coughed up blood from the twin attacks.

"You're a mage, yet you deign to use your fists?" Caster demanded, her voice wracked with pain.

"And more," Harry said, drawing his Smith & Wesson .500 and firing at Caster. The gunshot cracked, the sound becoming even sharper and louder due to the stone walls reflecting the sound. The heavy round, meant to take down large game, made quite the bloodstain as it punched through Caster's side. It wasn't the best shot, but the wound was fatal, it would simply take time for Caster's body to realize it.

Rin moved forward and slammed one leg into Caster's, adding to her stumble from the gunshot wound. "Sorry about that," Rin said. "But the art of self-defense is required training for mages these days!"

Rin continued her charge, landing another pair of blows into Caster and driving her into a pillar shattered by the spells that had been flying around.

"That's enough," Kuzuki said. There was a heavy sound of impact and Harry was launched off of his feet and into Rin. Rin sprawled on the ground, but Harry was on his feet again in an instant and charging toward the teacher.

Kuzuki dodged Harry's blast of force and charged the wizard as well. There was a furious exchange of blows, Harry clearly drawing on the Winter mantle as they fought, but Kuzuki was ready for Harry's greater speed now and knocked the wizard aside.

He followed up with a savage pair of punches that sent Harry to the ground. Before he could rise, Kuzuki was next to him. The teacher picked him up and slammed him into the wall once again. Harry dropped to the ground and didn't rise, though he moved dazedly.

"Tohsaka! Harry!" Shirou shouted as he struggled to get to his feet. The barrage Kuzuki had laid out on him just before he'd charged Harry and Rin had been sudden and intense.

"I am in your debt, Master," Caster said, her voice ragged from pain. She slowly rose to her feet and she set on hand against the large gunshot wound. Purple light shone and the injury began to heal. "Had you not intervened, I surely would've been killed."

"Don't flatter me," Kuzuki told her. "You have to wake Saber, quickly. We shouldn't underestimate them again."

"Indeed," Caster agreed, raising her hand. "A very wise decision, Master. I agree."

"Right," an unexpected voice said. "But it would've been nice if you'd realized it a few seconds earlier." Everyone froze at the words and Archer continued. "Now, _Trace on_."

A cold shiver ran down Shirou's back as several swords formed in the air with flashes of blue light and shot toward Kuzuki.

"Souichirou!" Caster shouted and ran forward. There was the sound of impact and a cloud of dust rose from the barrage.

Shirou covered his eyes to shield from the dust and then climbed to his feet to see what Archer had done. Caster stumbled back, the hood of her cloak torn away, revealing her beautiful elfin features, three swords protruded from her chest. Red stained her cloak and robes and she gasped in pain, but Kuzuki was unharmed behind her.

Medea turned to look at Kuzuki and the tension left her as she saw her Master was unharmed. The swords vanished into small blue sparks and she fell into him, her eyes drifting closed.

"Are you hurt, Master?" she asked, as if her eyes weren't enough to see the truth.

"No," Kuzuki replied, his voice still emotionless, but somehow still tender in that moment.

"I'm so relieved. I don't know what I would do, if you died. It's a shame, though. Just when I finally found my wish." Purple light began to glow from Caster and sparks began to drift away from her, as if carried by a soft breeze.

"Do not grieve," Kuzuki said. "I will fulfill your wish in your absence. I promise." For a man who had never shown any interest in anything around him, who hadn't lifted a finger to attack or defend until his own life had been put in danger, who never shown any emotion in any he had done, those two words were probably the most intimate and meaningful that he'd ever said.

"If only that were possible," Medea said. "After all, the wish that I speak of," she said, lifted a blood stained hand to Souichirou's face in a caress. "Has been granted. This moment is what I wished for."

Then Medea scattered into errant sparks of purple light.

Rin slowly climbed to her feet and Harry watched everyone with dazed eyes. The magic binding Saber faded away and she slumped into relaxation.

Kuzuki's gaze locked onto Archer, who was materializing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Archer," Rin said. "I… I always suspected but… is it true?"

Shirou gave Archer a hard look. _Trace on,_ he thought. _That's what he said. No question._

"I see we had a traitor among us," Kuzuki stated. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it, Archer?"

"That's right," he answered. "My own personal take on the legend of the Trojan Horse. I planned to use Caster just how she was trying to use me. Have her wipe out certain competitors, and then strike her down when she wouldn't suspect. It seemed appropriate for the demise of a Grecian heroine, and one who was known for her act of betrayal."

"I see," Kuzuki replied. "Caster made a critical error, allowing a man like you into her ranks." He walked forward, purple light coalescing at his fists and then fading away.

"I won't stand in your way if you choose to continue," Archer said, his twin swords appearing in his hands in a flash of blue light.

"Wait!" Shirou told him. "What are you doing? You don't have to go! Caster's gone, isn't she? There's no reason to fight anymore."

"It's true," Kuzuki said. "I don't have a reason to fight. I never had any interest in the Holy Grail. You and I are alike in that way."

"Then why?"

Kuzuki stopped and assumed his stance. "Because I have to finish what I've started," he answered. "I joined this war without concern for good or evil. But I can't walk away until I've seen it through."

Shirou's eyes went wide at the words. He knew the sentiment well. Once he committed himself to a task, whether it was fixing a heater, or helping someone, or becoming a hero, he had to see it through.

 _So why did I try to stop him just now?_ he thought. _I told him there was no point in fighting, but he sees it as a job he has to finish._

He didn't speak as Kuzuki shot forward and Archer coldly slashed one arm into uselessness. Kuzuki went into a second charge and Archer ran him through, the white blade of kanshou stabbing fatally into the teacher's side.

Kuzuki stumbled back until he met with a stone pillar. He dropped to his knees, simply staring forward, like a toy soldier, and then collapsed, dead.

 _Link,_ he thought to his other Servant. _How'd Archer get past you two?_

 _He cheats,_ came the sullen reply. _I'm a little tied up at the moment. Pyrrha's unconscious. I'm not sure why he let us live, but if he's near you, be careful. He's probably going to make a run at you the second he thinks he can get away with it._

Shirou made his way toward the prone Saber, his concern for her overriding his response to the beautiful white gown she was wearing.

"Saber," he said and knelt beside her.

She turned slightly so that she could face him. "Shirou," she said. "You came."

Relief flooded through him. "Of course I-"

Saber shoved into him, driving him away just before the quartet of swords would have driven themselves into them both.

"Damn," Archer said. "Not even close."

"Archer!" Rin snapped. "What are you doing? Drop the macho act, okay? Caster's been beaten and I've had it with your nonsense!"

"I see you have," Archer said. "But, fortunately, I don't need your permission. You are not my Master after all."

Rin took a step back, shocked by how cold Archer's words were. Then she instinctively raised her arms to defend herself as a horde of large swords dropped from the ceiling, trapping her inside a sharp and deadly cage.

"Consider our contract terminated," Archer told her. There was another rapid series of impacts as a similar collection of swords dropped around Harry. "I don't want you getting involved, Dresden. If you want to live, you'll stay there. I won't be so lenient the second time."

Harry fixed Archer with a hard look, the dazedness finally leaving his eyes.

"Archer, why? Why do you still want to kill Shirou?" Rin demanded.

Saber climbed unsteadily to her feet, her sword coming to her hands. The sight of her in a wedding gown and preparing to fight looked almost ridiculous, but her face was set in hard determination.

"I will kill Shirou Emiya with my bare hands," Archer said. "After I was reduced to a lowly Guardian, this became my only wish."

* * *

 **Author's note: Overconfidence, thy name is Medea. She should have read more Butcher, then she might have known that Harry specializes in beating people stronger than he is. :) Now we have this troublesome Archer to deal with. I have a feeling next week is going to be interesting for you guys.**

 **Lord of Memory: Soon. Soon the truth will be completely revealed, and not just for our dear Archer.**

 **SentinalSlice: Yeah, Archer certainly has his share of special advantages. And, I'm not sure about using it on a bunch of people, but I hope what I have cooked up will be interesting for you.**

 **KiroZen: I mean, you're not wrong.**

 **Nikola1488: Why would I need to use the OC tag? The only OC I have here is Tony, and he hasn't had too major a role yet in this story to warrant tagging.**

 **Bone Boy: Sorry, there's not much I can do about that. Having Harry and Link with him isn't really going to help diminish his desire to save people. But, hopefully they can make him a more practical hero.**

 **Lord Jaric: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. If you're a fan of urban fantasy, then totally pick up the Dresden Files. Butcher does good work.  
Funnily enough, Ezio wasn't technically Caster's Servant. He was Kuzuki's. While Ezio might not agree with Caster, he does relate well to Kuzuki, so I felt he'd be willing to cooperate, even if he wasn't a big fan of what was going on. If he's slightly OOC, then I'm really, really sorry about that. It's been a while since I've gone through his trilogy.  
I think you'll like how I'm planning on ending this story. I want to resolve as much as I can from the various timelines of Fate Stay/Night while staying on the more pure route I've taken this story.**

 **There's more where that came from, so stick around. :) And their math isn't off as much as it is… less informed than they'd want it to be. But thanks for paying attention to that level of detail.**

 **As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me when you guys show your support for this story. I love writing this story and I love seeing people enjoy it. I don't ever want to lose that joy and I absolutely want to see this project to its conclusion and have a blast for the entire time. I love hearing from you all and would love any support or advice you could provide.  
** **And if you want to talk about something more privately involving this story, I'm open for a PM, as is Warden Myst.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	65. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64**

 _And now these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love._ -1st Corinthians 13:13

"How could you?" Saber demanded. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because I cannot have any pride in myself as a hero. All I have left is foolish regrets. The thing is, Saber, it was a mistake to follow on the hero's path."

Saber's eyes went wide at that, then she fixed Archer with an angry glare.

"Stand down, King of Knights," Archer said. "I warn you. If you try to fight without a Master, you'll disappear. After all, Shirou Emiya is no longer qualified to be a Master. Helping him will not get you any closer to your wish."

Saber was silent for a long moment, the grip on her sword loosened slightly. Then her grip tightened. "I promised to protect him, to be his sword in battle," she told Archer. "And no matter what happens, I will honor my promise."

"I see," Archer said, and his blades flashed into existence with blue light. "So be it," he declared, his gaze hard.

He and Saber charged each other at the same time, their battle becoming a blur of blows and the clashing of metal. Saber, however, was not moving nearly as quickly or striking as powerfully as she usually did.

It was easy for Archer to counter her attacks and he pushed her back with ease. Saber panted with effort and her clothes flickered as she tried to form her armor and failed.

Archer pressed his advantage, forcing Saber on the defensive and driving her back toward Shirou. The force of the blows knocked Saber back and she fell to her hands and knees. Her sword flicked and the invisible layer faded away to reveal the golden blade of Excalibur. Saber was simply too exhausted to maintain the sheath of wind.

Archer stood over her, his face cold. He lifted one sword and pointed it at her. Shirou let out a battle cry and charged Archer, Archer's twin swords appearing in his own hands with a flash of silver light.

Archer saw the attack coming and blocked one blade with his own. "Well, well," he commented. "I honestly expected you to cower a while longer."

"Just shut up!" Shirou shouted. "You're fighting the wrong person. If you want to come after me, then leave Saber out of this!"

Archer drove his leg into Shirou and threw him across the room. Shirou sprawled heavily on the ground and Archer began to approach. "A faithful copy will do the trick," he said, glancing at the swords Shirou held. "However, your body can't. Not with the amount of magic you would need. Using magic beyond your abilities will destroy you."

There was an odd ringing sound in Shirou ears and he saw a flash of a barren and wasted field, swords rising from the ground like tombstones. Pain pulsed behind his skull and he broke out in a sweat. "Tell me something," Archer asked, not appearing to notice Shirou's pain. "Are you truly so foolish that you actually thought you could win? That if you relentlessly pursued your goal, you'd eventually become the man you hope to be?"

Shirou let out another shout and rose from the ground in another attack and the two began to clash, exchanging blows and dodging and weaving as if they were in a dance. Saber watched from her position on the ground, her eyes shining with intensity as she watched Shirou fight. Rin could see see fear among the mix of emotions playing across Saber's face.

Archer dodged a pair of swings from Shirou and slammed one of his swords down into one of Shirou's. The blade in Shirou's hand cracked, but managed to retain its shape. With a second, more powerful swing, Archer destroyed the sword and knocked Shirou to the ground again.

"You see," he said. "This is Shirou Emiya's limit. What a fitting end for someone so stubbornly blind to the impossible." Archer lifted his sword to deliver his death blow.

There was the sound of wrenching and shattering metal and the cage of swords that surrounded Harry burst away from the wizard and he ran with the speed and power he'd displayed when battling with Kuzuki. He charged, not for Archer, but for the prone and weakened Saber, crossing the room as nothing more than a blur of billowing dark leather.

He pointed one fist at Archer as he ran and there was a burst of force that went flying toward the hostile Servant. Archer slashed his sword through the air and simply stopped the spell with raw strength, but that had bought Harry the time he needed to reach Saber.

He ran to her side, grabbed the revealed Excalibur from the ground, spun, and hurled the weapon through the air. "Shirou!" he shouted as the weapon left his hand.

The golden sword spun through the air slowly, as if moving through molasses and Shirou's body reacted without any conscious thought. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward the spinning sword. Archer hesitated for a half moment, completely surprised by what was happening before him. Then he snapped to his senses and moved to strike Shirou down from behind.

Excalibur spun through the air and Shirou lifted his hand to catch the sword. Somehow, whether it was by luck, or by some design, the sword's spin through the air turned the weapon so that the hilt landed squarely in Shirou Emiya's outstretched hand.

Blinding silver light shone from the sword and Shirou spun. The blade of Excalibur met the swing of Archer's own sword, and the curved weapon shattered at the impact.

Archer's eyes were wide as he reflexively moved away from Shirou as he started to follow through on his attack and press his advantage. Rin and Saber's eyes had gone wide with amazement as well.

Servant weapons did not stay in another's hands without the express will of their owner. The weapon always disappeared as it was taken up by another, acting as an automatic defense system for the Grail War, preventing Servants from simply taking the weapons of their competitors and either hiding them or using them against their owners. The only way for someone else to handle the weapon of a Servant was for that Servant to physically and consciously choose to hand that weapon over to them and, even then, only other Servants truly had the power to handle weapons of such strength.

But, Excalibur had yet to disappear. Not when Harry had grabbed it, not while it had moved through the air in the throw, and not while Shirou currently wielded it against Archer.

Shirou attacked Archer with Excalibur, and Archer had no choice but to try and defend himself from that shining holy sword. Shirou fought with a speed and skill that he had never shown before, always apparently able to parry and counter Archer despite the gap in their respective skills.

"I haven't hit my limit, Archer," Shirou said as Archer pulled back to gain ground. He lifted the weapon in the same stance he'd seen Saber use before, the blade of Excalibur shining with silver-white fire.

"You wouldn't!" Archer said.

 _ **"Amoracchius!"**_ Shirou declared and slashed the sword down in a powerful strike. Silver light flooded from the sword in an echo of Saber's Noble Phantasm and blasted toward the Servant in red.

Archer shouted and was overwhelmed by the blast and then dust filled the air.

 _"Now,"_ an unexpected voice said in Shirou's head. _"Repeat after me."_

* * *

Archer grimaced in annoyance as the dust began to clear. He'd been so close, and then Dresden had interfered.

 _How did he do that?_ he thought. _Taking another Servant's Noble Phantasm from them and giving it to someone else? That's impossible without the Servant's own will behind it. Using that sword should have killed that boy in any event._

Archer wasn't going to trust that until he saw Shirou Emiya's body with his own two eyes. The name of the sword he'd called had been different, as had the strength and history of the blade while he had wielded it. It was as if the sword of Excalibur had, for just a moment, become another weapon entirely.

So had the copies of Kanshou and Bakuya, now that he thought about it. The blades had been far more durable than Shirou Emiya should have been able to create. Almost as if they had tried to transcend the bounds of magecraft and become real, rather than simple projections.

Archer stood behind the layered shield of Rho Aias, six of seven petals shattered by the surprisingly contained force of the blow sent toward him, which he'd barely been able to engage in time. Even so, the damage done to the shield was backlashing onto him and he was held in place as long as the defense was active. He needed to end this now.

Then, Shirou's voice rang out clearly in the dust. "Hear me!" he declared. "My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call and submit yourself to my will and reason, then answer me!"

"No!" Archer shouted and dropped the shield. He surged through the cloud and ran straight into a barrier made of silver light. He caught sight of Dresden, holding his left hand forward and Archer could sense the power flowing from the wizard and into the defense, making the barrier as solid and impermeable as possible. Archer could also feel something else in the shield, the barrier taking on a quality and strength that nearly transcended magic and making it almost real.

"And in hearing your answer," Shirou continued. "I will entrust my fate to your sword!"

Red light shone from behind the shield, Command Seals appearing for the recontracting Master.

 _"I am the bone of my sword,"_ Archer growled and a jagged dagger appeared in his hands. The blade of betrayal wasn't a pleasant weapon to hold, but its powers were needed right now. Archer stabbed Rulebreaker into the barrier before him, and the spell blocking him unraveled at the touch of the Noble Phantasm.

Dresden let out a grunt as his spell was denatured and Archer all but flew through the opening torn through the magical shield. Kanshou and Bakuya reappeared in his hands as he ran to end Shirou Emiya's life.

He saw them as he left the cloud of dust created by Shirou Emiya. Shirou crouched beside Saber, holding her hand in an intimate and loving gesture as he asked her to stand by his side.

"Under the name Saber, I, Arturia Pendragon, accept and take you as my knight and Master, Shirou," came the reply.

* * *

There was another flood of power as the contract was forged. Archer stopped moving as Saber rose to her feet, her armor now appearing over her form. She held Shirou's hand with her left, and the now hidden and returned Excalibur with her right.

Her eyes shone brightly as she met Shirou's gaze, then she turned to face Archer, releasing Shirou's hand and gripping Excalibur with both.

Archer's gaze moved from the restored Saber to Harry, who was leaning on his staff. "I believe I said I'd be less lenient if you interrupted, Caster," he told the wizard.

Harry smirked. "Who said it had anything to do with you, Archer? Screwing you over was just a bonus." He shrugged. "But I put almost everything I had into that shield and to make sure that communion spell with Shirou got through so that he could repact with Saber. So if you manage to get past Shirou and Saber then you'll be able to kill me easily enough." His smirk sharpened. "Of course, then you'll eat my Death Curse, but I doubt you'll care at that point."

"The only real question that remains," Saber said, stealing Archer's attention. "Is what you intend to do now? You cannot defeat me as I am."

"The amount of power that Shirou Emiya could give you is not enough to win against me," Archer told her. "I imagine the strain of truly supporting a Servant will get to him before long, and then you'll stop being so cocky."

The two of them blurred forward and began to fight. Shirou watched in amazement. Saber had been fast before, but she was even faster and stronger now.

The first exchange of blows shattered one of Archer's swords and Saber slammed her own blade down toward Archer and created a small crater where he'd been standing as he dodged and leapt away from her.

"It is finished, Archer," Saber declared. "You were concerned by my condition earlier, but now the tables have turned. There is nothing left to anchor you to this world, nothing to supply you with mana, so what can you do?"

Archer scoffed. "As I'm sure you well know, the Archer class has the ability of Independent Action. I believe I will last two days or so without a Master, and that's all the time I need to put that boy in the ground."

"Do you mean to say that Shirou's death is truly your wish, Archer?" Saber demanded. "If so, then it was a mistake."

Archer let out a dry laugh. "A mistake you say?" he asked. "You took the words right out of my mouth. How long will you cling to your own mistaken wish, King of Knights?"

"How long?" Saber asked. "The simple fact that you ask means you clearly did not hear my oath to Shirou just now." She locked her eyes with Archer and neither side wavered. Then Archer relaxed and dropped his swords, the points of the weapons stabbing in the stone floor before the weapons faded into sparks of light.

"I am an Archer," he said as his weapons faded away. "I was never meant to fight using swords. But I'll admit, that my own bow is just as much of a forgery." Light crackled from his fingers and Archer began to glow with power. "I will show you my true nature. It's the least I can do to repay you for what you've done."

Everyone stared in fascination as Archer began to speak, held there in suspense by the words Archer let loose into the world.

 _"I am the bone of my sword_

 _Steel is my body and fire is my blood_

 _I have created over a thousand blades_

 _Unknown to Death_

 _Nor known to life_

 _I have withstood pain to create many weapons_

 _Yet those hands will never hold anything_

 _So as I pray_

 _ **Unlimited Blade Works!"**_

The world seemed to crack and power rushed out from Archer and light surrounded them all.

What surrounded them was a barren wasteland. Blades, endless blades, surrounded them and rose from the ground like sharp, deadly stalks of grass. The ground was scorched and lifeless, and smog hung in the sky, hiding the hazy shapes of clockwork gears that reached impossible heights.

"A Reality Marble?" Rin asked, her voiced awed. "This means, you're not a swordsman or a bowman, are you?"

"No," Archer agreed. "In life, before I was a heroic spirit, I was a mage myself."

"So this is your Noble Phantasm," Harry said. "A shattered world of swords to match who you are. Incarnation of swords indeed."

"I see," Saber said. "Are you telling me that this barren wasteland is where you ended up in life?"

It wasn't Archer, but Harry who answered. "No," he said. "This is all that's left of what Archer believes in. He has one thing he can hold onto, something he has both pride and disgust for: his ability to make swords." He held his arms out, gesturing to the world around them. "This is really no different from a soul gaze, ladies and gentlemen. He's bared his inner world out for all of us to see."

"Would you care to test it out, Saber?" Archer asked, not acknowledging, but also not disputing, Dresden's words. "One look a weapon and a reproduction is instantly created here. I'd be happy to replicate that Holy Sword of yours."

"My sword?" Saber asked.

"Yes. It would certainly result in my demise, but I can make a faithful approximation. One that would kill you too. But I wonder if any of the people behind you could survive the clashing of two Excaliburs?"

Shirou growled and maybe a dozen swords simply formed in the air behind and above Archer.

"Dodge if you wish," he said. "But doing so would be fatal for the boy behind you."

Saber adjusted her stance, and Shirou ran out from behind her. He set himself squarely and stared at the blades launching themselves toward them.

 _"Trace on,"_ he said. As he spoke and pulled the trigger within himself, he saw the blades. Understanding surged through him and the entire composition of the weapons flying toward him became as clear as day. Their history, their making, their very molecules became a part of him.

But his understanding didn't stop there. As copies of the swords formed in his hands with a flash of silver light, his awareness continued to spread. Sword after sword after sword came into his mind, his consciousness seeming to expand to accommodate the armory he was beginning to understand.

He slashed his replicas in a pair of timed strokes, and Archer's weapons shattered with the impact and Shirou began to move his slightly cracked swords to counter the remainder of the barrage.

"Don't screw with me," Shirou challenged. "You bastard!"

There was a blinding flash of silver light and everyone was suddenly back in the church, dust billowing through the air.

"The Marble is gone," Rin murmured. "But why?"

There was a heavy sound of impact and then a figure was suddenly next to Rin. A tall, familiar form wearing a long coat.

There was a rapid movement and Saber leapt out of the cloud and toward them, just as the form grabbed Rin and leapt away.

"Archer!" Rin snapped. "What are you doing?"

Shirou climbed to his feet to see Archer near the exit of the hall, a struggling and very angry Rin under one arm. Harry was rising to his feet as well, having been knocked away by a sudden blow from Archer. Saber stood ready, her sword before her.

Archer laid a hand at Rin neck, and the girl suddenly went limp.

"You're not going anywhere!" Harry shouted and rose to his feet.

"Yes, I am," Archer told him. "Taking Rin is my insurance policy. If you value her life, Dresden, you'll stay out of this from now on. Don't come between me and that boy again."

"Einzbern castle," Shirou said, before Harry could retort.

"What's that?" Archer asked.

"If you've got a problem with me," Shirou said. "Then meet me there. Tomorrow, at dawn. We can settle it out there, because I've got a problem with you too."

"I suppose we wouldn't be interrupted there," Archer mused. "With Berserker and Ghost Rider now gone. I admire your resolve, Shirou Emiya." He glanced at Harry, "But if you try to follow me, I will consider this agreement null and void."

"Shirou's given you until dawn," Harry said as Archer prepared to leave. "I want your word that Rin will be kept safe. If we come to you and I even _think_ you've hurt her or let her come to harm, even oblivion won't save your from my Curse."

"I will guarantee her safety for one day," Archer said. "Without a Master, I, myself, won't last more than two."

Harry stared daggers at Archer as he left the hall. Then he let out a long breath that fogged in the air before him as if the temperature of the room was considerably lower. "We're gonna have to walk home," he told them, his voice sounding unnaturally rough. "I can't spell my way out of a paper bag right now and we're going to need time to rest up."

"First, I have a question for you," Saber said. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Take my sword," Saber said. "And then you were able to give it to Shirou without my permission or will."

Harry sighed. "I'll explain once we get back. Let's go find Link and Pyrrha. Then, I'll talk."

* * *

 **Author's note: Surprise, Archer! You weren't the only one with a secret. :) Our intrepid now has some explaining to do.  
** **In other news, we're so close to 200 follows and we're making progress on getting there in favorites as well! That's incredible! Thank you all so much!**

 **Michas: Oh, don't worry. There's gonna be some Shirou x Saber moments. Stick around for next week. I think you'll like what you see.**

 **PasiveNox: Glad you're having fun.**

 **Lord Jaric: I think I found your double catch up about as funny as you did. :D And I hope what happened with Saber here is everything you hoped it was.  
And, your math is correct. There is totally someone playing the game close to the chest.**

 **SentinalSlice: The reveals indeed, and not just for Archer. The next couple weeks are going to fun for you. I can all but guarantee that.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Writing this story has been so much fun and I hope it continues to be a ride for as long as it continues. This story has gone so far and I hope it goes further still. I love hearing from you all and welcome any support you can provide. And if you have a question that you don't want to be public, you can always PM me or WardenMyst your question.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	66. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65**

 _It's not about… making sense. It's about believing in something. And letting that belief be real enough to change your life. It's about faith. You don't fix faith, River. It fixes you._ \- Shepard Book, Firefly

Harry settled down at the living room table, Saber, Link, and Shirou joining him. They had found the other Saber bound up in chains that had only just begun to fade as they'd arrived. Pyrrha had been coming to at about that time as well.

They managed to get back to Shirou's house with a minimum of drama, though they had quite a few strange looks. Once they'd gotten back, Pyrrha left to report to Sakura and to explain what was happening to Illya. They were going to need her permission in order to bypass the forest's defenses.

"Alright," Shirou said. "Everyone's settled. So I think it's time we got an explanation."

"How were you able to take my sword?" Saber asked.

Harry sighed. "You know how the Secondary Servant system works," he said. "We're all from different worlds, pulled into this world by the Grail."

"Yeah," Shirou said. "Link's proof enough of that."

"True, but not every world is as different as his is," Harry said. "On the whole, yours and mine aren't so different. There's a lot of commonality. Actually I'd say there's far more in common than there is not." He pointed to Saber. "One of those things is the sword Excalibur. I can take it and give it to someone because I've been the caretaker of that sword for years. I have a legitimate claim to that sword."

Saber looked shocked. "But, how?" she asked.

"Because Michael gave it to me when he retired. Excalibur has another name where I come from: Amoracchius. It's the sword of Love, one of the three Swords wielded by the Knights of the Cross. I don't know if either of you noticed, but that was the name Shirou called it when he used it against Archer, not Excalibur. I don't know how he knew it, but he did."

"But, that shouldn't be possible," Saber said.

Harry just shrugged. "Coincidence is the superpower of the Knights of the Cross. Reality has gone quite out of its way to arrange things for them on more than one occasion. Maybe the Grail recognized that when I was summoned. Heck, maybe God decided it was a good idea. I don't really know."

Shirou's eyebrows suddenly shot up. "When Saber was revealed as King Arthur," he said. "You said you shouldn't have been surprised. This was why?"

"Pretty much," Harry answered. "The fact that I, the custodian of the sword Excalibur, got summoned in a Grail War with King Arthur, the historic wielder of the sword Excalibur, can't be simple coincidence. I guess I was right, since I was in the right position at the right time to grant you the sword when you most needed it."

"But is that all it was?" Link asked.

Harry grimaced. "I don't think so. I've never taken much stock in religion. I don't like to be noticed by anything godly, god-like, or godish. But, hell's bells, I've worked with archangels before. I can't help but think that there's more to it than that."

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"That Guardian stuff Archer mentioned," Harry said. "My gut says that it's why I was able to do what I did. As much as I hate it, I'm pretty sure I'm getting dragged into the whole Knight business. What are Guardians anyway?"

"Guardians act as a kind of automatic defense system," Saber explained. "They serve as a deterrent force in order to save humanity."

"He sounds a lot like a Knight," Harry said. "But Archer doesn't act like one."

"What do you mean by a Knight?" Shirou asked.

"The Knights of the Cross," Harry answered. "Three people who carry the Swords of the Cross and go out and fight evil. They save people and defend those who can't defend themselves."

"Just like that?" Link asked, skepticism in his voice.

"I don't know how they work, man," Harry said. "But whenever major league badness shows up, especially when it's supernatural, there's almost always a Knight there to get in the way. And the Knights, when they're serving their purpose, are rather hard to stop from succeeding. I don't think there's much that can stop them from getting the job done apart from their own human nature. But true Knights are genuinely good people who take up the role as a calling. Which is why I've never been one." He glanced at Shirou. "And for minute there against Archer, you certainly seemed like one of them. I don't think you could necessarily take Archer in a straight-up sword fight. Not yet at any rate, but you held your own against him and pushed him back about as well as Saber had."

"You said there were three swords," Saber said. "Do you know what the other two are?"

"Yeah, but not in the way you're thinking," Harry answered. "Fidelacchius and Esperacchius are the names of the other two swords. Michael said that they've been reforged to better suit the Knights who've carried them, except for Amoracchius. It's still its original shape. It's still the sword that was used by King Arthur, by _you_ , Saber. You were a Knight of the Cross."

-Interlude-

Pyrrha pulled her hands away from Sakura's sleeping form. The girl had been improving immensely, but the practice still took a lot out of her. She was napping to help recover, which provided Pyrrha the opportunity to make use of her aura once again.

Her hands were shaking slightly as she pulled them away from her sleeping Master. It was getting harder and harder to try and keep them under control. She could provide energy, sure, but the effort wasn't appeasing them as effectively as it once had.

Either the energy she was providing simply wasn't enough anymore, or else they had grown accustomed to the flow of power provided by the Servant. Or, she supposed, _he_ was involved somehow. She didn't know enough about magecraft to be sure.

The fact that Pyrrha had been taking an active part in the Grail War was probably only making it harder on the girl. Sakura never said a word, but Pyrrha could tell it was having an effect. She could feel the impulses and desires bleeding slowly into Sakura, nudging her into something else. The more she fought, the harder it was going to be for her Master to resist those urges. And if Sakura started to accept them, to get used to them…

"It can't keep going like this," she said to herself. At the rate things were going, Sakura was going to shatter unless she did something about it.

Pyrrha's hands clenched in frustration. Except she couldn't do anything. Not if she wanted Sakura to survive. He'd made that clear to her in no uncertain terms. He was watching her and was ready to act the moment she went too far. He was probably involved in what was happening to Sakura, but she couldn't tell for certain, it was just an instinct.

Neither Rin nor Shirou had figured it out yet, and she couldn't risk hinting things to Dresden. The wizard was many things, but subtle definitely wasn't one of them. If she gave him an inch, he'd take a mile and might force things into action. Things that would kill her Master, or worse.

Sakura stirred and started to wake up from her rest. Pyrrha would just have to wait, like she always did. At least she could continue to help Sakura be ready if anything happened.

"Are you ready to try again?" she asked as Sakura woke.

Sakura nodded, her posture becoming firmer as she rose to her feet.

 _At least I can give her this much,_ Pyrrha thought as they made their way out of Sakura's room.

-Interlude out-

Shirou found Saber sitting in the dojo like she often did. What surprised him was the fact that she wasn't resting, but sitting and examining an unveiled Excalibur.

"Is everything okay, Saber?" he asked, closing the door to the dojo behind him.

Saber's gaze shot toward Shirou, and then she relaxed and continued to look over the blade in her hands.

"Yes," she said, and the sword vanished. "I just found myself curious. Are you feeling alright, Shirou?"

"Yeah," he said and flexed his shoulder as he approached and sat beside her. "The wound Archer gave me the other day is fully healed now. I think once I recontracted with you I started healing like before."

"That's good," Saber said. "But how are you feeling after remaking our pact? Unlike before, you should be supplying me with mana, since we were able to make a proper exchange of oaths. What Archer said might actually come to pass if you are not careful."

Shirou just shook his head. "It's weird, but I can feel the energy moving toward you if I concentrate, but I don't feel any fatigue from it."

"It's a shame Rin is not here," Saber said. "We'd be able to ask her if that is normal."

"We'll get her back soon. Once we're all rested and ready, we'll go and deal with Archer." Shirou's expression darkened at that, remembering the words Archer had said.

"Shirou," Saber said. "You don't need to get involved with Archer. I will deal with him myself. It would be best if you-"

"You've got it backwards," Shirou said. "Just leave Archer to me."

Rather than annoyance or anger, concern crossed Saber's face. "You cannot do that, Shirou," she said. "After all, Archer is…"

"Yeah, I know. I've probably known since we met. So you don't have to explain it to me. And that's why he has to pay for his actions." Shirou fell silent, coming to terms with what he was saying. "I have to end this. Even if it kills me, this has to stop. So please, let me fight Archer. And when I do, I want you to stay out of it, no matter what."

Silence reigned for a long moment. "Shirou," Saber said. "You once asked me why I wouldn't stop, and that I should think about myself more."

Shirou grew tense, remembering the argument they'd had on the bridge. He opened his mouth to respond, but Saber started talking, cutting him off.

"I wanted to go back and make a different choice," she said. "I was certain that the sword in the stone had somehow made a mistake. That it had chosen the wrong King. But, when I was held by Caster, I couldn't stop thinking about what she had ordered me to do. She had used a Command Seal to have me kill you. Despite our fight, I couldn't bring myself to even consider harming you."

"Saber," Shirou said.

"When we were out on our date," she continued. "I remembered something. A comment from someone I was close to, saying I was a perfect gentleman escort. I realized that you had been doing the same thing I had done for her. And then, you came for me. You never hesitated, never faltered. You didn't come so that you could fight Caster, but you came to set me free.

Saber glanced away from Shirou. "I didn't see the boy I had tried to argue with battling with Kuzuki, but I saw a knight of the round, coming to the aid of his King when he needed it.

"I was so lost in my doubt that I forgot something important. Not every knight turned away from me while I was King. When the others left my service and turned their arms against my rule, others stayed by my side and lifted their swords to defend me. I never listened to what those knights said of me, I only ever remembered what those who left said. I don't believe that everyone would ever be satisfied with my rule. No matter how fair, or how tyrannical, my rule would have been, there would always have been dissenters. I wish I had learned that lesson sooner."

Saber rose to her feet and looked down at her Master. "You and I have sworn a new pact, Shirou. Do you remember the terms I set?"

"Terms?" Shirou asked.

Saber smiled. "Yes, I agreed to accept you as my Master, but I also swore to take you as my knight."

Shirou suddenly grew nervous. "Oh," he said. "And, what does that mean?"

Saber's armor and sword appeared with a small gust of wind. "I said that you should not speak foolishness of how I should live to me until you were able to fight on your own. I was harsh with you then, I see that now. You are more than capable of standing on your own in battle." The Sheath of the Wind King dispersed and Excalibur stood revealed once more. "If you truly wish to help others, then I believe that this should be an appropriate gesture." And before Shirou could move or ask another question, Saber gently laid the point of Excalibur on one of his shoulders and then on the other.

"In recognition of your ability and in your service to your King, I name you a knight of Camelot, Shirou Emiya. May you be remembered as a true member of the Round Table and stand by those of my service in the halls of the Throne of Heroes."

Excalibur disappeared and she laid a finger under his chin and prompted him to his feet. Her armor disappeared and then she hugged Shirou.

"Thank you," she said. "For coming." Shirou returned the gesture and felt something burning in his chest, filling a hole he hadn't ever known was there.

After a moment, they separated and backed away. "If you truly wish to battle with Archer," Saber said. "Then I shall abide by your request, but I shall observe until the fight is decided."

"Thank you," Shirou said. "I mean it. I swear that I won't lose to him, no matter what."

"Good," Saber said. "Now, you should get some rest, Shirou. You have a long day planned tomorrow."

Shirou left the dojo and saw Link leaning against the wall beside the door, his arms crossed, and a smile on his face.

Shirou's face turned red and Link's smile turned into a grin.

"How long have you been standing there?" he demanded.

"Long enough," Link replied and clapped a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "Great work, Sir Shirou." Then he walked off, chuckling to himself.

Rin woke with tears in her eyes, as she had a couple of days earlier, when she'd dreamt of Dresden's life and heard his description of becoming a father. It was ironic, she supposed, that she would summon two Servants who were so different, yet so compatible with each other.

One Servant, a man who had fought and bled to defend others and who had a Noble Phantasm that allowed him to bring those experiences into the world to fight at his side. A man who had accepted something monstrous into himself in order to save someone he loved. A man who had never given up, even when the odds were stacked impossibly against him, and somehow managed to always come out alive.

The other, a man who had committed himself to the helping of others, forgoing his own happiness so that he could grant that joy onto others. A man who had discovered his power and worked to perfect it in order to continue with that goal. A man who had gone out to become a hero, who had succeeded, and then been betrayed by the very people he had sought to save. A man who had sold away the peace that death would have given him in order to continue trying to help others, and who had been betrayed by even the one ideal he had held on to. His Noble Phantasm, nothing more that the markers of his deeds, and a reminder of what he was.

Rin opened her eyes to the low golden light of dawn. She was in a cold stone room and tied securely, but not uncomfortably, to a chair. She slowly moved her gaze around the room, full of various pieces of furniture and assorted articles that declared the room a space for storage, until she spotted Archer sitting on a couch and staring out a window.

"What are you trying to pull, Archer?" she asked.

Her former Servant turned his gaze in her direction and simply grunted.

"Hmph," she said back. "You know Shirou would have come anyway, whether if I was here or not. You of all people should have realized that."

"Maybe so," Archer said. "But it would be inconvenient for you to be there when he does. The same goes for Dresden, which is why I have you here, out of the way."

"I see. So you intend to kill Shirou, no matter what, is that right?"

"Right. Anybody that naive should be put down before it's too late."

"I know how naive he can be," Rin agreed. "I've seen it first-hand many times." She locked her gaze onto Archer. "But that's part of his charm, it's what makes him the sweet, kind-hearted person he is. And I want him to stay that way. It's comforting to know that someone like him can exist.

"But what about you, Archer? After all the things you've done, you suddenly think it's wrong to wave one's idealism in people's faces?" Rin's expression harden and she leaned forward as far as she could to add emphasis to her words. "Over and over again you fought for others. Over and over you were betrayed. Over and over you were forced to clean up messes humans made."

Rage suddenly filled her and she all but shouted: "Is that it?! Is that what just made you give up on humanity?! Answer me!"

The remnants of Rin's shout echoed in the stone room and Archer did not answer.

"You never had them," Rin said, her voice quiet. "Did you? The other Servants weren't there when you fought in this war, right?"

"No," Archer answered and rose to his feet. "Not that it would have mattered." He made his way to the doorway set opposite the glowing window.

"I am the bone of my sword," Rin said. Archer stopped. "The incantation you made." Rin looked down, her vision blurring slightly. "Even a curse, should never be that cruel." Her eyes hardened and she turned toward Archer again. "I don't agree with the messed up way you live, or the people who didn't help you when you needed it. But that doesn't mean you have to give up. Even if you're stuck as a guardian, it doesn't mean you can't find something that gives you hope that one day we'll get it right." Rin's voice grew even quieter as the memory of what she'd seen by looking into Harry's eyes flashed back to her, still razor sharp and undiluted by time.

"He's lived as hard as you have," she murmured. "But he's still found a way to make it work. He's found a way to cope with his own scars."

Archer stood there for a long moment. "That man and I are nothing alike," he said and walked out without looking back.

* * *

 **Author's note: And now we have another example of why these Secondary Servants can sometimes be even more powerful than the primary ones. And I wanted to have some really cute Saber/Shirou moments (which wasn't in the original script, by the way) so I hope you guys enjoyed that.  
** **In other news, HOLY CRAP! Over 200 followers, over 175 favorites, and over 150 reviews! That. Is. Awesome! To see this story go so far when it's almost a year old is simply amazing, guys. Thank you. Thank you all so much.**

 **PasiveNox: I hope you enjoyed the explanation.**

 **KiroZen: I admit, I never really used that soundtrack for that scene in my head, but it absolutely applies right there.**

 **Lord of Memory: The confrontation is about to go down and I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.**

 **FateFanatic: It wasn't until after I had started posting this story that I realized that that might be something that could happen, especially since writers have done that before. I'm really happy that you gave it a shot and that you're enjoying it so much. There's even more to come, so definitely stick around.**

 **Lord Jaric: Gonna be honest, I didn't think of that when I wrote it, but you're not wrong either. I guess this chapter is only going to cement that further.**

 **Guest: Interesting you should say that. Very interesting.**

 **1eragon33: Oh, the Master Sword and Shirou are going to get quite cozy together. I think you'll see what I mean very soon.**

 **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! Writing this story has been so much fun and I hope it continues to be a ride for as long as it continues. This story has gone so far and I hope it goes further still. I love hearing from you all and welcome any support you can provide. And if you have a question that you don't want to be public, you can always PM me or WardenMyst your question.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	67. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66**

 _There is the world that should be and the world that is. We live in one._ \- Listens to Wind, Turn Coat

Shirou, Harry, Saber and Link made their way into the main hall of the Einzbern castle through the Way Harry opened for them. The hall was completely destroyed, marked by the battle Archer had had with Berserker when Rin had saved him.

"You sure took your time getting here, Shirou Emiya," Archer said, from his seat on a broken stone in a shadowed section of hall on the second floor.

"I was driving," Harry told him.

"I thought I told you to stay out of this, Dresden," Archer said.

"I am," Harry replied. "But I've got some things to say before the party gets started, Emiya."

Archer made an acknowledging sound. "How did you figure it out?"

"Just putting lots of little things together. It actually wasn't that hard once I had everything in front of me."

"And what do have to say?"

"Just a couple of questions. For one thing, how did Rin manage to summon you without a catalyst? Your arrival here wasn't coincidence, I'm certain of that."

In response, Archer turned his gaze onto Shirou. "He carried it for the rest of his days, after he was mysteriously saved from a wound that should have been fatal. A unique memento of Rin Tohsaka's father.

"A heroic spirit cannot be summoned without a catalyst, but Rin Tohsaka didn't have one to use in the invocation. That's why she assumed, wrongly, of course, that she had simply summoned a Servant at random.

"But no heroic spirit is ever called upon by chance. A link must exist between the summoner and the spirit."

"And if Rin's side of the equation didn't have it," Harry said. "Then your side had to."

"Where heroic spirits are held, time does not exist," Saber said. "Those from the past are no different from those yet to come."

"Which means it's possible to summon a heroic spirit from the future," Harry said. "Reality does have a sense of humor after all. Alright, I've got one more question, Emiya. Why are you trying to kill Shirou? What's so important about it?"

"I'm surprised you even have to ask," Archer replied.

"Indulge me," Harry said. "Why?"

"Neither of us can accept each other as we are. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's as simple as that."

"That cannot be true," Saber said. "You are the embodiment of the very ideals and dreams of Shirou Emiya. You are both the same, how can you reject yourself?"

"Unlike you," Archer told her. "I didn't become a heroic spirit entirely on my own merits. I simply traded one afterlife for another. I'm a Guardian, nothing more."

"Aren't Guardians supposed to protect humanity?" Link asked. "Don't they come in response to a darkness and stop it, like I do?"

"And if you truly are a Guardian," Saber said. "Then you _are_ a heroic spirit."

"That's where you're wrong," Archer said. "Guardians don't protect humanity. They're just here to clean up the mess." His voice became wry and bitter. "You're right though. I suppose I _did_ become a hero. In fact, I became a hero of justice, the kind Shirou Emiya always wanted to be.

"And that's what opened my eyes to the fatal error of this failed reality. The fact of the matter is, that man's life is utterly worthless."

"But you're everything Shirou has wished to be, aren't you?" Link asked, his voice surprisingly pleading. "You come in and you clean up messes, sure. But by doing so, don't you make the happiness you've always wanted?"

"Is that what you think I am?" Archer asked. He clenched his hand into a fist. "Indeed, I became the so called 'hero of justice' that I had longed for. But all I got in return was a life of regrets.

"In life I allied with the deterrent force. In death, I became the deterrent force as a counter Guardian of humanity. Challenging those who disrupted the balance of the world. I did whatever I was ordered to do."

Link looked thoughtful as Archer spoke, his gaze becoming distant. He almost looked disturbed by Archer's words. The triforce on the back of his left hand glowed softly with golden light.

"I killed," Archer continued. "And I killed. I killed without ceasing. I killed until I finally stopped caring. Every life I took meant thousands more would survive. I fought over and over, whenever I was needed. Again, and again, and again. Before long, I learned that no matter how many lives I took, there would always be more. I was not so naive to try and achieve a world without any fighting. What I truly wanted was a world without tears. The kind of world where no one I knew would have cause to cry.

"And that's when it hit me. The dream that Shirou Emiya had for this world was nothing more than shallow idealism."

"How can you say that?" Link asked, his eyes refocusing and locking onto Archer again. His posture shifted, becoming surer, and taller.

"Because it's impossible to save everyone," Archer replied, rising to his feet. "You might save many, but you leave the few to die. There's no way around it.

"I found those whose happiness was destined to die and bestowed that honor on them instead. That's what a hero does. The ideal he holds true is mercy incarnate. Isn't that the point after all? To save as many people as possible? So there you have it, I kill one to save many. Just like any hero of justice would do. But even though I said I wanted to forge a world without tears, I brought more than my share of despair and suffering."

"What a load of crap," Harry said, finally speaking again. Everyone turned to look at him, surprised. Harry shook his head. "Wow," he continued. "No wonder Michael called me an idiot. And I thought the Fallen had a monopoly on sheer arrogance."

"You mock me?" Archer growled.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "Because that's the biggest load of bull I've ever seen. You're assuming that what's happening is about you, Emiya. You think that what you've done, who you've killed, besmirches the dream you hold so dear? That because you have to keep fighting means that it will never, _eventually_ stop?"

"What do you know?" Archer said.

"I know everything," Harry replied, his voice half laughing. "Every word you've just said, every one of the emotions you've just felt has come to me in my darkest moments. There've been plenty of times when I've wanted to stop, to pull back. Hell's bells, it's been the smart move more than once in my life. And every time that voice of doubt whispers in my head, you know what I've done? I've gone in, head first, because the alternative would be to do nothing, and watch the carnage that unfolds.

"I'm sure as hell not perfect. I've failed. I've done horrible things to save others and when I look back at what I've done, and asked myself if I would have done things differently, you know what answer I got? I'd have done it all again, twice as hard. Not every choice I've made has been perfect, but I've accepted that. Even if they weren't all smart choices, there aren't many that I regret. I still work to make the world better and safer place, just as you still hold onto that dream, Emiya."

"No, I don't," Archer replied. "Shirou Emiya's dream is a fantasy."

"Yeah, it is," Harry replied. Archer blinked in surprise. "But doesn't that just make it all the better to pull off? Despite all that you've done and all that you've gone through, you _care_. It wouldn't tear you apart if you didn't. If you really were that bitter, cynical man you pretend to be, then you wouldn't have saved me to protect Rin."

Link's eyes snapped to Harry, comprehension dawning in them.

"Yeah, I knew it was you," Harry continued. "Only you could have been in position to stop Ghost Rider that night. That was an arrow that destroyed my circle, not Link's sword, and you're the only one who could've turned that blade into an arrow to strike from a safe, undetectable distance. You didn't have to do that. You weren't under any orders to protect me or to help Rin at that moment. You _chose_ to do it, because you knew what losing me would do to Rin so soon after you'd left.

"So, maybe, let's not go to the extreme of trying to wipe yourself from existence. It won't help you now."

"Do you know what I've gotten as a hero of Justice, Dresden?" Archer asked, his voice hot. "Do you want to know how many times I've achieved my dream of saving people? The number is simple: Zero.

"I've mercilessly killed the very people I've dedicated myself to save. All because of my stupid ideal of becoming a hero. I'm sick of cleaning up after humanity, but as a heroic spirit, I'm cursed to do that for eternity. I don't belong to this existence, and there's only one way to make myself disappear."

"Have you heard of the time paradox, Emiya?" Harry asked. "Say you went back in time and killed your grandfather. Then how could you exist in order to kill your grandfather in the first place? A reversal of a decision by force that renders that reversal null and void is a paradox. Most people think that such an act would wipe out reality. Vadderung suggested that what would actually happen is a split, two realities forming where once there was one. One where you succeeded, and one where you failed."

"What is your point, Dresden?" Archer asked.

"That you're taking things too far, Emiya. It wouldn't take nearly so much to stop Shirou from becoming you as you think it does, and that even if you managed to pull it off, you'd still be here. There's a force that works to keep history in check, to keep it from disappearing, but that doesn't mean you can't change the past indirectly.

"The moment you stabbed Shirou back at the temple, you killed any hope there was in making the man who you are today. You killed the man you are with that choice, that paradox. The fact that you're here to show him the dangers, the risks, means that he'll never forget what the path did to you. So if he is offered the same power, he'll know what it can do, and make better choices to steer clear of the holes you didn't see on the road.

"More importantly, Emiya, he has something it looks like you never had the chance to have. He has me, and Link, and Pyrrha. He's heard our stories, and has learned from them. I gave him a Sword, and the purpose of the Knights of the Cross. I don't think he'll fall into despair. He won't lose his faith in the good of others."

"You're a blind fool," Archer snapped. "You and I are nothing alike. If Shirou Emiya continues on his path, he will become me."

Harry shook his head. "Don't do this," he all but pleaded. "There's still hope for both of you. There's still time for _you_ to become someone new."

"It is inevitable," Archer said. "And, therefore, I will destroy Shirou Emiya with my own hands. Even if the chance is almost zero, it is not out of the realm of possibility."

Harry sighed and looked over to Shirou. His eyes were darker than they'd been before, heavier, but not without resolve. "Well, I tried. But he's as stubborn as you are, Shirou." He started to walk off. "The ball's in your court, kid. It's up to you to end this."

Shirou stood there as Harry left the main hall to try and find Rin. Silence followed for what felt like a long time.

"Do you have any regrets, Archer?" Shirou asked.

"Of course I do," Archer replied.

Shirou let out a breath as his body relaxed, as if a great burden was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. "Well, there you have it," he said. "We aren't anything alike."

"What?"

"Cause no matter what happens to me, I won't regret a thing. That's the reason why I can't forgive you. If you really are my ideal, then it's up to me to correct the mistakes you've made and start over again."

"That kind of thinking is where this all began," Archer told him. "Before long, you'll wake up and find you've become me."

"No," Shirou replied. "No way that's ever going to happen, I'm not the man you were to start. I have faith in the stories I've heard. I trust Saber, and I plan to make her proud."

"If you refuse to run," Archer said and started to walk down the stairs toward Shirou. "Then I'm afraid you have no future at all."

"Archer," Saber said. Link readied his sword, the triforce on the back of his hand still glowing.

"Saber, it's okay," Shirou told her and started to walk forward. "Pull back, Link. This is my first duty as a knight of Camelot. I'm going to wake this idiot up to the chance he still has. I'll be fine."

 _"Trace on,"_ Archer and Shirou said in unison. Blades appeared in their hands. Kanshou and Bakuya appearing in Archer's with a flash of blue light, the Master Sword appearing in Shirou's left with a flash of silver.

Archer stared at the sword in Shirou's hand for a long moment while Link just smiled at the recreated weapon and relaxed. "Do you think you can keep up with my Blade Works?" he asked. "If your precision is even slightly off, remember that it will mean your death."

"You're the one that's asked for this," Shirou told him. "Not me. I don't plan on dying here."

Shirou and Emiya launched toward each other, becoming a storm of blades and sparks from impacting swords.

* * *

Harry made his way through the enormous hallways of the Einzbern castle in search of Rin. He couldn't help but be impressed with the scale of building. Much like the ostentatiatory in the Senior Council's residence hall, the decoration was so overdone that the viewer had to be impressed.

"Who honestly needs a house this big?" he asked. He turned a corner and something tiny scurried away from him. "I guess there are rodents in every castle," he commented and glanced around.

"Now, if I were Archer, where would I put Rin?" He paused as something occurred to him. "Wait, if I were Rin, where would I make Archer put me?"

A form appeared beside him. The figure was a tall, beautiful, blonde haired woman in a greco-roman tunic and sandals with bright purple eyes. She was also smiling.

"I've always admired your ability to make jests in the face of adversity," she said.

Harry grunted in greeting. "Any insight, Lash?" he asked.

"I can show you the room she is right now," she told him. "But she was unconscious when taken there, and without the use of the model, we cannot get an understanding of the layout easily. She's on the east side of the building, and likely on the second floor. From there it is simply a matter of checking the rooms." She smirked. "Or you could use the hair you took from her when we made her gloves and use it in a tracking spell."

"It's almost as if you know me," Harry quipped, pulling the suggested article from one of the pockets of his duster.

"Intimately, my host."

The spell took next to no time to get running and he followed the sensation and walked through the halls of the castle.

"My host," Lash said, walking beside him. She wasn't actually there, of course, the image before him was simply an illusion placed over his awareness by the Fallen's shadow. "I have a concern."

Harry lifted an eyebrow. "Only one?" he asked. "I've had plenty of them since this business got started."

Lash smiled. "Naturally, my host. You have a tendency to take on far more than anyone could reasonably handle. But it regards the girl that Shirou Emiya has taken under his protection during this war."

"Illya?" he asked, surprised.

Lash shook her head. "No, my host. The Matou girl, Sakura."

Dresden's brow furrowed in thought. "What about her?" he asked.

"The girl has changed considerably as the war has progressed," the shadow said. "And I do not believe the change is a coincidence."

"I don't follow," Harry said. "She's become more involved, sure, but it's not like she's had much choice. Caster definitely saw to that."

"It is more than that, my host. And, not to put too fine a point on it, but your perceptions when it comes to women have always been lacking."

"Do you have something you're driving at, or is this just filler?" Harry asked as he made his way to the second floor.

"The girl's attention has grown more and fixated on Shirou Emiya as the war has progressed," she said. "And her general attitude towards Saber, and even Rin Tohsaka, has been becoming more and more hostile."

Harry gave Lash a skeptical look. "I think I'd have noticed that," he told her.

Lash shook her head. "It is not something quite so obvious as that, my host. It is on a subtler level. She looks at him more often and glares at them more often. She refuses to touch the women around Shirou Emiya if she can help it. And her attitudes have been shifting at an increasing rate as the war has progressed, and she has not been a highly active member of the conflict. Something else is at work here."

"Like what?"

"I do not know," Lash replied.

That comment scared the ever-living _hell_ out of him. Lash was the imprint of the Fallen Angel of Lashiel. She held all of the knowledge of the Fallen, even if her attitude and sense of self had changed due to her exposure to him. And she had been boning up on her knowledge of magecraft as much as he and Bob had been.

For her to _not_ be sure about something was a unique and terrifying experience.

"There is some piece of the puzzle that we are missing," she continued. "And I worry that it will consume us all if we are not careful."

"I'll… add it to the list," he said, making his way down another hall, foreboding traveling down his back in a cold shiver.

* * *

 **Author's note: The time has come. The battle for Shirou Emiya has finally arrived. And storm clouds are on the horizon.  
** **I find it funny how, just like how every Secondary Servant who was present had something to say to Saber, everyone here had something to say to Archer. Harry and Shirou/Archer have so much in common it's actually kind of frightening. But Archer is as stubborn as ever.**

 **1eragon33: You sure know your Zelda and Fate lore. I absolutely love the direction that you're thinking about this. That, unfortunately, isn't really what I meant, but you've certainly taken the idea and made it something really special. While the plan isn't going that direction, I believe the spirit of it still lives on in how this story will play out. The Master Sword has chosen him in a way, but it isn't what would shield Shirou from becoming a Guardian.**

 **SentinalSlice: I'm glad you're feeling better. As I said before, that really wasn't in the original script. It just sort of happened, and I wasn't really reading Fate in Time then, either. I hope you like the battle next week. This new Shirou has some surprises of his own.**

 **ENDDRAGON369: Why do you think Kiriro could use the BoB but not Sinon? The BoB was a passing matter for Kirito. It gave him some closure, sure, but it didn't make him into the hero he is. But it did define Sinon as a hero, and actualized her legend. Kirito's feats in other worlds far surpass his role in the BoB.**

 **Savagemaster1999: I can think of a Berserker who would. I'm very proud that I didn't double-dip any fandoms in this story, because Ganondorf isn't the second Berserker.**

 **Lord Jaric: Technically, yeah. Although, given the Second Sorcery, timeline divergence is sort of a shaky concept. :D**

 **Also, next week marks the anniversary of this story's posting. Sunday, February 17th is the day before this story is officially one year old. This story had been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	68. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67**

 _Life's tragedy is that we grow old too soon and wise too late._ \- anonymous

Shirou and Archer's swords clashed and two spun away from each other as their rapid exchange ended. Archer moved with his greater speed and struck at Shirou's back, but Shirou was able to track the movement and counter before Archer could capitalize on the opening.

Link and Saber watched from the sidelines, Saber's expression was worried while Link watched with the same interest as he did during Shirou's training sessions. Unlike those sessions, however, he kept any thoughts or comments to himself. His eyes flicked around the battlefield, clearly noting something as the fight continued.

Archer and Shirou's exchange ended and Shirou was forced away from Archer. He readied the Master Sword and Archer paused for a moment before shooting forward in another assault. He'd become much warier of simply charging and overpowering Shirou after an attempt at the Fatal Draw had been used to counter.

Shirou, however, hadn't tried the technique again, likely realizing the inherent danger of using the technique on an opponent who had seen it already.

Steel rang on steel as Shirou and Archer exchanged blows. Sparks danced away from the impacting weapons and the ringing sound of metal echoed through the vast room.

"His style is shifting," Link murmured and he glanced at Saber. "You're seeing it, right?" Saber simply nodded. "It's becoming a rather strange blend of all three of us. He has an instinct to use Archer's technique, but he's somehow learned my own style enough to make use of it and I'm seeing him try to use yours as well."

Archer knocked Shirou away with a powerful blow and Shirou sprawled on the ground. He didn't follow up the attack, instead waiting and readying himself for another exchange. Then, Archer's expression grew frustrated as Shirou climbed back to his feet and held the Master Sword at the ready again.

Archer's form suddenly started to grow transparent and blue light flowed away from him.

"He's running out of mana," Saber observed.

"Don't get your hopes up," Archer replied. "I have the lifespan of the Archer class. But even if it reaches its limit, this boy is still no match for me in combat. Not by a long shot." Archer's form solidified and his grip on his swords tightened. "Shirou Emiya, you are going to die here, no matter what."

"Shirou," Link said. "Trust your instincts. Don't fight against them like you've been doing. They'll piece together on their own if you let them."

Shirou let out a breath and then spun the Master Sword into a far more solid stance.

"So you're going to rely on my style after all, Shirou Emiya," Archer said. "The more you rely on what I do, the more proof you have that you'll just end up being me." And then he surged forward in another furious attack.

Despite the taunt, Archer seemed more aggressive than he had before, focusing his attacks on trying to disarm Shirou. The two of them seemed to dance as they fought, but Archer eventually managed to knock the Master Sword from Shirou's hands, locking both of his swords on either side of the Master Sword's blade and ripping the weapon from Shirou's hands with main strength.

Shirou's counter happened in an eyeblink. There was a flash of silver light, and one of Archer's curved falchions was in his hand and stabbing for an exposed section of Archer's torso.

Archer barely managed to evade the attack in time, and the twin blade appeared in Shirou's left hand with another flash of silver light. Archer leapt through the air in an attack of his own, which Shirou only barely managed to block. There was a cracking sound as the weapons met and Archer was forced away.

"You thought your own projections were on par with mine?" Archer asked. "You might be able to mimic the designs and materials, but they're worthless if your configurations are poor."

The two of them backed away slightly and prepared for another exchange.

"Shirou," Saber breathed, staring in awe at what had happened.

Archer's eyes narrowed and he glanced down. Shirou's swords were cracked from the strain of the attack they'd blocked, lacking the inherent durability of the Blade of Evil's Bane, but Archer's own swords were far more damaged than Shirou's.

"What?" he demanded, and Shirou leapt toward him in an attack. Archer blocked almost negligently and he stared at Shirou's sword.

As the blades met, an alien sensation flowed through Shirou and he froze for a half second, allowing Archer to drive his leg into him and drive him away. Shirou recovered quickly and was able to keep his stance enough to block Archer's next attack. The sensation passed through him again and it was so sudden that his stance slipped.

Archer knocked him away, but Shirou recovered almost immediately and then launched a nearly identical attack on Archer. There was a shattering sound as both Shirou and Archer's weapons were destroyed by the blow.

Archer stared at his hands, surprised that his weapons were gone, and then they reappeared in a flash of blue light.

"I see," he said. "We're the same man, despite what we might wish, and our magic circuits are beginning to fall into sync. Your skill keeps improving every time you and I cross swords and fight."

"I guess that makes us both copycats," Shirou said. "You keep acting cool and it'll give me more time to catch up to you."

Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his own hands with a flash of silver light. Archer stared at the swords, as if noticing something for the first time.

"Catch up to me," Archer said. "You're an optimistic fool. You have no idea how wrong you are."

"Explain it to me, then," Shirou told him.

Archer shot forward and the two of them locked swords. "No matter how strong you get or what skills you draw on, you have no hope of beating me."

The odd ringing sound returned to Shirou's ears and he saw a flash of a desolate landscape, Archer stabbing swords into the ground. And he saw bodies. Corpses dead from arrows. He saw a hangman's noose and felt his neck snap as he dropped from the platform.

 _That's it?_ he thought. _That's how his life ended?_ He tried to summon up his anger, but all he could do was feel sorry for Archer. He could all but feel the way Archer's heart must have shattered at the way his life had come to an end.

He saw Archer, bloody swords sticking out of his back, slumped on the ground in apparent defeat.

And then he saw a sword, a long katana with a wooden hilt, glowing with silver light. With that remembered image, a single blade in a tableau of swords that would stay with him for the rest of his life, came a sense of understanding, of pure clarity of purpose that built off of that sense of empathy for the heroic spirit who had worked so hard to achieve his dream, only to have it fall short.

He wanted to hate Archer, but he saw something in him that just made that impossible anymore. He didn't like him, but he couldn't hate him either.

There was a cracking sound and then Archer's swords shattered and the Servant was forced to back away. Shirou's own weapons were cracked by the force of their respective pushes, but his were still functional.

Shirou stumbled slightly and nearly fell as Archer backed away and stared at his hands in bewilderment.

"How?" he growled and looked sharply at Shirou's stunned and pale face. "You saw it, didn't you?" he asked. Shirou simply stared at Archer.

"That simplifies things," he said. "Everything you saw was true, Shirou Emiya. That's what 'catching up to me' means. See it again for yourself. The world I ended up in." Blue light pulsed out from the Guardian him in a fiery wave. Then he incanted:

 _"I am the bone of my sword_

 _Steel is my body and fire is my blood_

 _I have created over a thousand blades_

 _Unknown to Death_

 _Nor known to life_

 _Have withstood pain to create many weapons_

 _Yet those hands will never hold anything_

 _So as I pray_

 _ **Unlimited Blade Works!"**_

"This," Archer said as his Reality Marble manifested around them. "Is the world of Shirou Emiya. A fool who knows his dreams are unattainable, but comes anyway. A fraud, without a will of his own, who's wasted his life on a ridiculous ideal. Can you finally admit that's who you truly are?

"Saving people just because you want to is both selfish and misguided. You're a defect of humanity. You should never have existed in the first place! There's no point in a life like yours!"

Shirou simply stared at him silently, remembering more and more swords that had been presented to him in that soul-searing moment of connection. A story of a life expressed through the weapons that had surrounded him. One so similar, yet so different.

"You know that I'm your ideal and you should know now that your dream never comes true."

"When did it happen?" Shirou asked, softly.

"What?" Archer asked.

"When did you burn out?" he asked. "When did you lose sight of what you always wanted? When did helping others suddenly become the same thing as murdering them?"

"It's been like that all along," Archer answered. "That's all heroes of justice ever do."

"That's where you're wrong," Shirou told him. "It is possible to save everyone. You've just forgotten."

"No," Archer said. "I've just seen it first hand, as have you through me. Tell me, knowing what you do now, do you still want to become a hero of justice?"

"It isn't that I want to become one," Shirou answered. "It's that I will become one, no matter what."

"'You must become one no matter what,'" Archer repeated, condescension in his voice. "You are Shirou Emiya, and it's the only thing you've ever been passionate about."

Shirou stood tall. "And that's where you're wrong about me, Archer," he said. "It's not."

Archer blinked at that. "I will become a hero of justice," Shirou said. "But not simply because I will. I chose this path, and it's helped me find something that I care about. Some _one_. I've still got a long way to go before I can save the first person I need to, but I can do it when fighting you."

"You didn't choose this," Archer growled. "You took it from Kiritsugu, inherited it when he died that night. That pushed you into becoming a hero, into taking his ideals as your own without developing any passions of your own. Imitating what he believed was right. You're living for a borrowed dream, not one you made yourself."

"But I did make it myself," Shirou said. "I simply admired Kiritsugu at first, but then that grew into something more. A dream of my own. And I've been taught how to take that dream and make it into something even greater." The swords in Shirou's hands suddenly blazed into silver light and then began to change their shape. In his left hand formed the Master Sword and in his right was a blade no one else there had seen before.

A humble long sword with a cruciform hilt and with no adornments other than a simple nail worked into the hilt. Saber felt a resonance in her chest at the sight of the unknown blade. Some part of her understood, instinctively, that the weapon he now carried knew her and accepted her.

The swords in Shirou's hands began to glow with light as he assumed a stance, the Master Sword glowing with golden sunlight, while the other blade shone with silver white fire.

"What naive idiocy," Archer snapped. "You want to live the hollow life of a machine?"

"It's not hollow," Shirou told him. "Maybe it's just what the world needs. What _I've_ needed. A knight who's willing to stand against the darkness, no matter the odds. A knight of the Round in a world where such ideas have been forgotten."

Archer grew visibly angry at that, his expression becoming like a snarl. "Why won't you see?" he demanded.

"Because you're the one that's blind!" Shirou told him. "You care about being right more than you do about helping others."

Archer hurled his blades at Shirou and he swatted them from the air with a sweep of his two swords. Another pair appeared in Archer's hands and the two of them locked eyes.

"Just because you lost hope in humanity," Shirou told him. "Doesn't mean that we're beyond saving. It doesn't mean I don't have faith that one day, we won't be necessary. That we'll be able to put down our swords and watch the world with a smile."

Archer's eyes blazed with fury and he launched himself toward Shirou with a roar. "Pathetic!" he shouted, swinging his weapons with each word. "Pathetic! Pathetic! Pathetic! I can't even stand to look at you! Do you realize how stupid this is?! Do you?! True justice is the result of order! Salvation for all is totally different from your own salvation! Not only that, but they're completely incompatible! The more your strive for the total salvation of all, the more you'll be consumed by your own contradiction!"

Archer became a storm of black and white blades and Shirou countered every one of Archer's strikes with his own swords. Shirou's face was set in calm determination and he met the furious attacks of his other self.

"He's starting to break down," Link observed quietly as he watched the exchange. "The fact that Shirou's resolve hasn't shaken once is starting to get to him.

Saber watched, her eyes worried. "Yes," she said. "I just hope that Shirou's own faith isn't broken by Archer's commitment."

"Except that Archer isn't committed," Link said. "He's just stubbornly holding on to what he's thought for so long. Have faith in your knight, Saber. He'll pull through."

There was the sound of shattering metal as Shirou's swords destroyed Archer's blades and forced the Servant back as another pair flashed into his hands with blue light. The two surged into another exchange and, even from their distance, Saber and Link could see the chips flying off of Archer's new swords while Shirou's remained strong and unmarked.

Archer's face twisted and he unexpectedly kicked Shirou away. Shirou sprawled on the ground, but then rose to his feet and assumed a guard position with his swords.

"Hmmm," Link said. "Do you find it odd how Shirou isn't even bleeding? He's taken at least a couple of hard hits, but he just keeps getting back up like there's nothing wrong."

The cracked and damaged swords in Archer's hands vanished as he stared at Shirou. The gears and clockworks above them suddenly stopped and there was heavy metal groaning sound, as if the mechanics of the Marble were being put under heavy and unexpected strain.

Light seemed to shine through the heavy haze in the sky and the ground around Shirou seemed to grow lighter. Saber blinked in surprise and she and Link stared at their Master.

The ground didn't seem lighter, it was. The barren and blasted ground beneath Shirou's feet had grown a shade more green, and only continued to do so as he stood there, waiting for Archer to begin the next exchange.

In fact, now that she was looking for it, every patch of ground where Shirou had briefly stood as he clashed with Archer was a shade lighter than the ground around it.

"In the end, it doesn't matter," Archer growled. "Your hope will one day betray you as mine did!" Swords rose from the ground and floated in the air behind him and then streaked through the air toward Shirou like bullets.

Shirou spun and deflected each of the flying weapons, the swords shattering as they met with Shirou's blades. Archer fired other blades at the ground around Shirou, forcing him off balance and driving him backward.

"The battle for Shirou Emiya is about to end," Archer said.

"Yes," Shirou said. "It is." More swords rose behind Archer and they positioned themselves to fire. "Do you remember what you told me?" Shirou asked. "One of the few pieces of honest advice you gave me?"

Archer hesitated.

"Shirou Emiya," the knight told Archer. "Listen closely: You aren't a person who fights. You're a person who creates. Clear everything else from your mind. There is only one thing you are capable of so it's imperative that you master it.

"Never forget: That what you should always be visualizing is you performing at your absolute best. You don't need external enemies. Your own worst enemy is the image you have of yourself in your head."

The world around Shirou suddenly bloomed into light. The clouds began to swirl away and the ground beneath him began to grow green with grass. Sunlight began to shine off of clockworks in the sky that were becoming bright and wear free.

Archer stood rooted to the spot, but the swords fired at Shirou. Shirou spun and turned, cutting blades from the air with the Master Sword and the unknown blade. With each stroke of the two swords, a blade was shattered.

Several of the swords grew in size and blasted off toward Shirou like rockets. Shirou's swords disappeared and another weapon appeared in his hands with a flash of silver light, a large sword made of silver that hummed with power. With a spin, Shirou slashed it into the large blades flying toward him and each of Archer's flying swords shattered into sparks as they met with Shirou's silver sword.

More of Archer's blades flew through the air. Kanshou and Bakuya were back in Shirou's hands and he threw them to either side, each of the swords destroying weapons coming at him from those directions. Then the twin swords turned in the air and met just as another one of Archer's blades was heading for Shirou, the matched swords shattering it inches before it reached him.

Archer simply stared as Shirou made his way toward him, blades flying through the air as if by their own will.

The closer Shirou came to him, the more light and grass encroached on the Reality Marble. Shirou continued to block every attack that came his way, using swords that Archer had never seen before. He caught a flash of a japanese katana that shone with silver fire, a thin willow sword made of silver like the one Shirou had used earlier, and cavalry saber that blazed with silver light. A strange wooden hilt that blazed with a blade made of golden light. Once, he caught sight of the Master Sword, the gold glowing blade unleashing an arc of blue light that blasted apart a trio of incoming blades.

It was as if reality itself wouldn't allow him to be harmed by the endless barrage of swords and continued to give him weapons designed to counter those flying at him.

Warm sunlight shone onto Archer as Shirou reached him and drove something small and razor sharp into his body. Archer closed his eyes and basked in a warmth he hadn't felt in a very long time.

And then they were back inside Einzbern castle. Saber and Link stared at Shirou and Archer. Shirou pulled the sharpened Azoth dagger he'd used on Archer out of the Servant's body and took a pair of steps back.

"It's over, Archer," Shirou said as the dagger faded away. "I've won."

"Yes," Archer said, his voice low. "I've suffered defeat once again."

Shirou smiled. "Yes, but you're not facing death yet. It's non-lethal."

"There are wounds that have nothing to do with swords," Archer said. "But I don't need to tell you that, do I?"

"Archer! Emiya!" Rin shouted as she hurried into the hall. Harry strolled in after her and looked over the two combatants as if he'd been passing them on the street.

"You finally make him see reason?" he asked Shirou.

"I've been given a pointed reminder that I need to reexamine my priorities, yes, Dresden," Archer said, blandly.

Harry blinked at Archer. "Did you just make a joke?" he asked, incredulous.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Archer said, crossing his arms.

"Are you okay?" Rin asked. She glanced at Archer. "Archer, you look terrible. What happened?"

Archer closed his eyes. "I guess," he said. "I forgot how to be sentimental. I forgot about the smile on that old man's face. And I forgot how to play the long game."

"Archer," Rin said.

The Servant opened his eyes and regarded Shirou for a long silent moment, then he turned his full attention on Rin. "Either way, the matter between Shirou Emiya and I has been settled." Archer stopped, almost looking embarrassed as he refused to look into Rin's eyes.

"Rin," he said. "I owe you a debt for what I've done. When this war started, I told you that I would not accept your apology for disregarding me because I was not a saber. I don't expect any such coddling. But-"

"How long?" Rin asked.

"What?" he asked, caught off guard.

"How long do you have?" Rin asked him. "Until you disappear?"

Archer shrugged. "Not much more than a day. Even with my mana stores low, I can last about that long just on my own."

Rin thought about that for a moment, then she gave Archer a rather evil smile. "So I have something like 24 hours to do whatever I want?" she asked.

Archer stared at her and then his stare became a glare. "You are getting far too much enjoyment out of this," he said.

Rin continued to smile for a moment, then her expression fell. "Of course I want to take you back," she told him. "I wasn't lying back in the forest. But I want to make one thing crystal clear. I don't ever want to see you do something like that again."

Rin's voice cracked slightly, but she remained as stern and obstinate as ever as she continued to speak.

"And I am going to make sure you never forget what I'm going to do to you for this insanity!" she told him, her eyes shining slightly. Light shone through a crack in the wall behind her and added an additional shine to Rin's tears as a pair rolled down her cheeks. "Do you understand me?"

Archer gave her a patient smile. "Of course, Rin. I promise."

Rin sniffed slightly and beamed at Archer.

There was a buzz that went past Rin's ear and heavy sound of impact and Archer stumbled to one side as something slammed into the ground behind him. He straightened and glanced down at the massive hole that was in his chest.

Blood gushed from the wound and blue sparks began to flow from the ends of his fingers. He looked up from the hole where his heart was supposed to be and through the crack in the solid stone wall just behind and to one side of Rin. One of the girl's twin tails drifted slightly in the tiny breeze made by the bullet's passing.

He gave the hole his signature cocky smirk. "What an annoyingly impressive shot," he said and fell over, his body starting to fade away into errant sparks.

"Archer!" Rin screamed.

* * *

 **Author's note: This chapter was really, really fun to write. To have Shirou go through this fight when he's grown so much was an absolute treat. I hope this was as amazing for you all to read as it was for me to write.**

 **Lord Jaric: Wait… Could it be? Do you not know? If you don't, please** _ **no one**_ **ruin it. It will come up!**

 **PasiveNow: Just wait. There's more.**

 **Savagemaster1999: Technically, not true. It simply has to be a berserker that can be controlled. And I do believe you are forgetting something important about Kirei's status as a Master.**

 **1eragon33: They really are reflections of each other, and the fact that they're working together is only making Shirou an even better person and hero. Through Dresden into the pot and, well, you can see what we have. :D**

 **Spartan-140: Hey, been a while. Hope the chapter was everything you hoped for.**

 **DarkMatterPhoenix: You actually have the Triforce Noble Phantasm understood exactly. The description I have in my profile is lacking, and I should not have let it become so. The only difference between what you described and what I've been writing is that Link understands that he has lived multiple lives and that he can remember them (with maybe one or two exceptions). He's actually used equipment from other timelines already and, only once, used a Noble Phantasm from a different timeline as well.**

 **Tomorrow marks Fate/Fantasy's birthday! Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support for an entire year. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much!  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**

 **P.S. Has anyone figured out what's the big difference between Shirou and Archer yet? PM me with your guess.**

 **P.P.S. Yes, I am aware that I am an asshole for that ending.**


	69. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68**

 _Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before._ \- Edgar Allan Poe

Rin ran to the fallen and fading Servant while Shirou and Saber looked wildly around for the source of the attack.

Harry spun and leveled his blasting rod at an innocuous corner of the room. _"Fuego!"_ he snarled and a jet of blue-white fire blasted toward something small that tried to scurry away.

There was an almost imperceptible squeak as the fire incinerated the mouse that was trying to make its escape.

"What was that?" Shirou asked.

"The hidden camera," Harry told them and rapidly changed positions, avoiding being within sight of one of the hall's windows.

Saber grabbed Shirou and she and Link did the same.

"Sinon," Link said, glancing at the stone wall the shot had gone through. "You think she's still out there?"

"That would make sense," Saber answered. "If we leave by the main door, she'll be ready for us."

"But why didn't she shoot again?" Link asked. He leaned over slightly and tried to peer out of a nearby window without actually exposing himself to any danger. Given how well Sinon could shoot, he didn't dare try to expose himself unless it was absolutely necessary.

Rin hadn't left the rapidly fading Archer's side while the others went for cover. Her rational side had been shattered along with Archer's chest.

There wasn't anything she could do to save him. The bullet had destroyed his spirit core, and even his Independent Action skill couldn't save him now. It had been a perfectly calculated shot, barely missing her and going for the vulnerable Servant just in front of her. Which was completely in line with how the Master of the other Archer had acted throughout the whole war.

"Barnett," she growled, her voice completely acidic. When she found him she was going render him into a bloody pulp, combat magic be damned. She rose to her feet as Archer completely vanished, her vision blurring, and she spun to face the hole the bullet that taken Archer from her had used to gain entry into the building.

She loaded up every bit of her fury into the glare she shot through that hole, fully aware that another shot could be pointing in her direction at that very moment. But nothing happened.

There was no crack of sound, no buzz of a passing bullet. There was simply silence. After another moment had passed, Rin realized that Harry was saying her name. That snapped her out of her blind fury.

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"We need to go," he said.

Rin shook herself and quickly made her way to Dresden, who opened another Way that went directly to the Emiya house.

Almost as soon as they arrived, Harry pulled Rin away, instructing Shirou to go and tell Sakura that they were back and okay. Then he lead Rin to her room and sat her down on her bed.

"Are you here?" he asked, meeting her eyes squarely.

Rin gave him a hard look. "Of course I am," she told him. Their eyes stayed locked for a long moment, the wizard trying to spot something in his Master's eyes.

Despite her assurance, Harry could see the war that was going on behind her blue orbs. The anger, the surprise, grief, all fighting to take the forefront of her mind and rip apart her carefully held control.

He could also see her conscious mind carefully pulling away the emotions, setting them aside and organizing them through sheer will.

He'd had to do that, once or twice in his life. Pull everything away and lock it in a box so that he could focus on the task in front of him. Once the crisis was over, he was sure Rin would sit down and sort out how she felt and what she would do.

A mixture of pride and regret burned in his chest. Rin was strong for someone her age, but the fact that she was spoke to both her inner strength and of circumstances that had forced her to grow up much more rapidly than others her age.

"Just as long as you're not shutting it away," was all he said, pulling back. "Then that's fine. If you buried the pain, then all that work we did for Saber would be meaningless."

"Relax, Harry," Rin said. "I'm fine." Her eyes narrowed. "But I'm going to make Barnett pay for that."

"We'll throw him in the ocean and see how well he floats with lead weights tied to his ankles," Harry told her, smiling. "So, what's our next move? There anything you want to do to keep your mind running?"

"Yes, actually," Rin said. "I want to check on something." And she needed to get rid of the surge of excess energy she felt, now that Archer was gone. If she was going to try and work around the pain until she had time to come to grips with it, then she might as well be productive while she did.

* * *

Shirou sat in the living room with Saber, Link, Illya, Pyrrha, and Sakura.

"So Sinon took out Archer," Pyrrha said after Shirou recounted the highlights of their trip. "I suppose with Caster gone, she and Barnett are going to be our priority."

"It looks like," Link said and grimaced. "And since we've seen most of what she can do, she's not going to hold back with her next attack. I think it's a safe bet that if we end up fighting her, we're going to have to kill her fast before she drops that Marble on us again. If we give her even a little time to set up she's going to start putting us down."

"It seems like Barnett is set against killing Masters," Illya said. "What he did in our last fight was meant to specifically stop us from attacking him so that his Servant could take you all out."

"Which only partly explains why she didn't open fire again," Link said. "It's not like a stone wall would have stopped that rifle of hers. But widespread property damage also hasn't been part of Barnett's strategy."

"Usually," Saber added, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at the destroyed kitchen. "The last time he appeared, he left plenty of destruction in his wake, and he managed to do it when Shirou and I were far enough away to not sense the attack."

"I think that was largely a coincidence," Pyrrha said. "You and Shirou just happened to leave for your date early enough so that his attack happened after you had left."

Sakura shifted in her seat.

"Is everything okay, Sakura?" Shirou asked.

"Everything's fine," she answered, her cheeks reddening slightly. Pyrrha drew in a breath, as if about to speak, but just exhaled instead.

Illya reached out for her cup of tea and looked like she was about to speak as well. Before she could, however, her grip on the cup slipped and it clattered back onto the table, spilling slightly.

Illya grimaced and picked up her cup again, this time successfully.

"Illyasviel?" Saber asked.

"I'm fine," Illya told her, stubborn pride in her voice. A round of dubious glances passed around the table and Illya let out a frustrated sound. "If Barnett is going to be your next target then we'll need to try and find where he is.

"He's come to us each time," Saber said.

"Or lured Rin into a trap," Link added.

"Could Harry find him?" Pyrrha asked, after a thoughtful silence.

"We'll have to wait for that answer," Illya informed them. "He and Rin appear to have left."

* * *

Things were not normal at Ryuudou temple. Sure, the monks walked around like nothing too serious had happened, with the exception of the lingering damage done by the battle with Caster. But to anyone who had keen enough senses, there was something terrible at work in the ancient ground of the mountain.

In his time as a Warden, Harry had learned to recognize when something was truly, fundamentally wrong. The madness in the eyes and mind of a Warlock like Hannah Asher, the twisted madness of the vampires of the Red or Black court, and the Naagloshii.

At the mere thought, the twisted and horrifying image of the ancient Skinwalker, revealed to him in the permanent, mindsearing clarity of his Wizard's sight, came to his mind and made him shudder.

The nightmares locked within Demonreach were of an even greater caliber than the Naagloshii had been.

And if he'd had the power to do so, Harry would have cleared the temple of anyone alive and burned it to the ground, soaked the charred remains with gasoline, and set it on fire once again. Then he'd probably have found a way to blow up the mountain it had been built on, just to be sure.

The absolute sense of corruptive wrongness that he felt the second he'd started using his wizard's senses after they'd arrived at the temple was so blinding and pervasive that he wanted nothing more than to find a deep hole and pull it in after him.

"Harry? Rin asked.

Harry staggered slightly and supported himself with his staff as he tried to get his brain back in order.

"What the _hell_ is this place?" he demanded in a growl.

Rin raised her eyebrows. "It's a Buddhist temple," he answered. "Why?"

"Hell's bells, don't you feel that?"

Rin shook her head. "You're the one with the Supernatural Awareness skill, not me," she said. "What did you sense?"

"Evil,"he answered, without any melodrama. "There is something fundamentally wrong with this place."

The plan for the afternoon had been simple. Since Caster was gone, they'd decided to check out the temple during the relative safety of daylight to get a sense of whatever Medea had been working on.

The witch had been extremely confident in what she'd planned to do, so if there were any physical notes or marks of what she might have been planning, the temple was the one safe place she'd have kept such information, except for the safety of keeping it in her own head. It was a long shot, but simply securing the temple was a smart enough move. If they were questioned by anyone who might wonder why they were standing in the courtyard, Harry could always claim to be a tourist.

"What do you mean 'evil?'" Rin asked.

Harry thought for a moment, trying to find a comparison. "Do you remember that park you showed Archer and me?" he asked. "The sense of it? The malice?"

Rin's expression grew thoughtful. "Yes," she said. "But I don't feel any of that here."

"It's deep," he said. "Buried far under the temple, but it's much denser. I wouldn't trust the ley line running under the temple with this much concentrated dark energy here. The whole line's probably corrupted by it."

"But," Rin said, looking as if she'd been hit over the head. "What does that mean?"

"That something is very wrong here," Harry said again and shook his head, getting his thoughts in order. "Okay, so there's something dark and powerful buried under the temple. Whatever it is, it's contained, at least for now, and it doesn't seem to be affecting the temple itself.

"It certainly wasn't Caster, even on her best day, I don't think she could make this much dark magic. That means she either didn't notice it, or didn't care."

He glanced over at Rin, who looked thoughtful herself. "So, what's so special about this temple?"

"The Grail," she said, looking away. "This is one of the places that it can be summoned. The church and my house are two others."

"And?" Harry asked, his eyes intent. "What else is here?"

Rin sighed. "The Greater Grail is buried underneath the temple."

"The _Greater_ Grail?" Harry asked. "You mean there's more than _one_?"

"Yes," she explained. "Technically. The Lesser Grail is what powers the Greater Grail, whoever gets the Lesser Grail is able to make use of the Greater one. What's the big deal?"

"Rin," Harry said, his voice stern. "Everything is important. The more components there are in a ritual, the more pieces there are that can fail."

There was flicker in their vision, and Lash appeared before Rin and Harry. "It seems likely that whatever bounded fields Medea established have broken down now that she is gone." She looked at Harry. "There's only one way to know for certain what is beneath this temple, my host."

Harry closed his eyes. "I guess so," he said. "I hate doing this."

"Doing what?" Rin asked.

"Something unpleasant," Harry said and he fixed his gaze on the ground. With a small moment of focus, and a slight feeling of pressure in the center of his forehead, he opened his Sight.

Using the Sight was always a surreal experience. It allowed a wizard to see the flows of energy in the world around him in such absolute clarity that it was burned permanently into his memory. A soulgaze was simply a two-way version of the Sight, but any wizard of sufficient power could open his Sight if he wanted.

Doing so for any significant amount of time would render him completely insane by the sheer amount of information that would be scarred into his mind, but for short moments, it could cut through all manner of disguises and illusions and reveal the truth of the world around him.

Harry opened his Sight and looked around at the temple. He could see the remains of the mana Caster had stored in the soil, the twisting power of the lifeforce drained from innocents, flashes of what looked like memory and agony and twisted forms of life. He could see the barrier around the temple itself, a shining wall that resembled impenetrable armor plating against the simple idea of thought and expressed energy, a super-charged threshold that would prevent anything from violating such a sacred place without permission to enter.

He glanced down and peered at what was buried beneath the mountain. Buried far under the stone of the old mountain, there was a sphere of light that was as bright and powerful as the sun blazing beneath the temples halls, but where the light should have been blinding, there was a thick, viscous mud caked over the sphere. Black sludge dripped from the sphere like blood oozing from a wound.

And there were eyes. A pair of huge, blazing red eyes stared back at him from with the contrasting sight of the light covered with mud. They weren't human eyes. They were eyes of pure malice and hate, eyes of alien intelligence and full of nothing but the simple desire to destroy and watch fire consume everything around them. Those eyes looked through the solid barrier of stone and the puny construction of humanity over it and stared directly at him.

Harry ripped away his Sight and stumbled back from the nightmare that was under their feet, his breathing hard and ragged.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked.

Harry simply stared at the ground, fighting with all his will not to become a gibbering mess on the ground. Those _eyes_ haunted him. The intelligence, the hate, that they contained were still locked onto him, he was sure of it. It, whatever it was, did not like him. It did not like what he represented, what he wished for, what he was, and it revelled in its own disregard of the very idea of life and joy.

"We need to get back," he said, his voice unsteady. "There's something in the Grail. Something _wrong_."

Then he heard the faintest sound of boots scuffing against stone and he spun, leveling his blasting rod at the empty air near the temple gate. The rod burst into red light and Harry shouted, "Who's there?"

Rin thought she saw a flicker of movement as something shifted where Harry had aimed his blasting rod.

After a long moment, Harry lowered the weapon. "Someone was watching us," he told Rin. "Let's get out of here before a fight breaks out."

* * *

-Interlude-

Saber knocked on the door where Illya was staying. "Illyasviel?" she asked. "We need to talk."

There was a long moment of silence before the door opened and Illya let her enter. Saber glanced around as she stepped into Illya's room.

"Where are your attendants?" she asked.

"I sent them away for a little while," Illya answered.

Saber fixed Illya with a look. "What's wrong with you, Illyasviel? You're normally far more composed than you were earlier." Illya didn't answer and Saber let out a sigh.

"I'm worried about you," she told the girl. "Your mother started having problems about mid-way into the last war. The fact that you might be now as well is not something I'm comfortable with."

She and Illya locked eyes for a long time. Then, Illya answered.

"It's because I'm not completely human. Grandfather made changes to me for the Grail War, so I'm still small and now it's starting to have an effect on me."

Saber's expression flashed with worry at the admission and she held out one hand.

"Illyasviel, can you grip my hand with all of your strength?" she asked. Illya did so, and Saber felt the strength in the girl's fingers. She relaxed almost visibly. The girl still had strength, unlike Irisviel during the middle stage of the last war. Still it wouldn't do to take chances.

She'd made a promise to Illya that they would figure out what had happened during the last war. If Illya started to weaken the same way Irisviel had, she would never be able to help the girl understand what had happened.

"Follow me," Saber said, her tone authoritative, and took Illya back to the shed where Shirou practiced his magecraft and directed Illya to lie down in the circle where she'd been summoned.

As Illya settled herself in the circle, light began to shine and Illya's posture subtly became more sure.

"When Irisviel wasn't feeling well," Saber explained. "She would rest in this circle. I'm not a mage, so I'm not sure how much this will help you."

Illya stared at the circle she sat in and then shifted her gaze toward Saber.

"Tell me about it," she suddenly said. "Tell me about my mother during the last Grail War."

-Interlude out-

* * *

 **Author's note: Now, I do believe, it is time for us to get a nice, close look at the Holy Grail. It's time for some things to come into the light.**

 **1eragon33: I'd say I'm sorry about Archer dying, but I'm really not. As snarky as the man is, he had to go.**

 **Lord Jaric: Oh, we still have some time before dear ol' Gil shows up.**

 **Anon: Thank you so much for your review. There's also no need for you to apologize for not reviewing. Not everyone does it and I totally get that.  
And I hope you enjoy the exploits of Harry Dresden. Butcher does amazing work and he's one of my favorite authors. The Legend of Zelda is also just an amazing franchise to play through. It's the definition of epic fantasy for so many of us. And while it was never the intent of this story, a part of me has been hoping that the secondary Servants presented here would help show others their stories.  
So, thank you for joining us on this ride and for exploring what I've tried to bring here. :D**

 **PasiveNox: :)**

 **SentialSlice: While you are correct, that is not what I meant. It won't be a psychological element. I mean that there is a physical difference between Shirou Emiya and Archer. It's a subtle, but significant change given to him during this story.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much!  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	70. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69**

 _Those that do not listen to history are doomed to repeat it._ \- Popular aphorism

Everyone sat at the living room table, and the general atmosphere was enough to make it clear to everyone that this was a war council.

"What was so important that you needed us all to gather right away, Harry?" Pyrrha asked. She sat very close to Sakura, who looked sullen, despite everyone's safe return from the fight with Archer. Harry eyed the Matou for a moment before answering the question.

"Because I just learned that the Holy Grail isn't what it seems," he answered. "I think the Holy Grail is corrupted."

"What?!" almost everyone shouted in reply.

Saber won the conversational ball. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

"Rin and I went poking around the temple," he said. "Since Caster was gone, we thought it was smart to see if she'd left anything behind. Either something we could make use of or something we might need to break down. Less than five seconds of using my arcane senses told me that there was something very wrong there, and that it was too powerful to have come from Medea."

"What does that have to do with the Grail?" Link asked.

"Apparently, a major piece of how the Grail functions is buried underneath the temple."

"The Greater Grail," Illya replied.

Dresden raised an eyebrow. "So you knew about it too?" he asked.

Illya nodded. "The Einzberns were the ones who created it," she told him. "The Makiri made the Command Seals and the Servant system to help determine the winner of the Grail."

"And the Tohsakas offered the battlefield for the Grail war," Rin finished.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Well the Greater Grail has something very dark and very dangerous inside of it."

"How do you know?" Illya asked.

"Because I looked at it with my Sight and the image of it is now permanently burned into my brain," Harry said, shuddering slightly. "And something that dark and evil inside an object claimed to be an omnipotent wish granter is _not_ something I'm comfortable with."

"But what proof do you have?" Illya asked. "The Einzberns made the Greater Grail, so there shouldn't be anything in there."

"Other than the fact that the image of that thing is not permanently burned into my brain?" Harry asked with another shudder. "None yet. Someone followed us there and we left before a fight could break out."

Saber's eyes suddenly went very wide. "Kiritsugu," she said in astonishment.

"What?" Shirou asked.

Saber looked shaken to her very core. "The last war," she said. "He must have figured it out. That's why he…" She looked at Illya. "He never betrayed me. Or you, Illya. He stopped the Grail from being used."

"What are you talking about?" Shirou demanded. "What does Kiritsugu have to do with this?"

Saber shifted her gaze onto Shirou. "My Master in the last war," she said, her voice very quiet. "Was Kiritsugu Emiya, who was fighting for the Einzberns to claim the Holy Grail."

Shirou's own eyes went wide and he slumped in complete amazement. Disparate facts that he'd known, but never thought to put together, fell into place. He'd always known that Kiritsugu was a mage. It had been one of the first things he'd told Shirou. Saber had recognized his last name when they'd been introduced at the start of the war, and she'd even admitted to retaining her memories of the previous war. It was all so obvious.

"How did the last war end, Saber?" Harry asked.

"Kiritsugu used his Command Seals to order me to destroy the Holy Grail," Saber answered. "I don't remember anything after that."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Shirou asked, his gaze locked onto his Servant and his mind fixed on her revelation.

Saber met his eyes. "I promise to talk to you about it later, Shirou," she said. "But we have more important things to worry about right now."

Shirou looked like he wanted to push the issue, but Harry gave him a look.

"You destroyed the Holy Grail?" he asked. "I would ask if that's even possible, but I'm going to stick to one crisis at a time for now. Regardless of how it was done, Kiritsugu managed to stop the Grail from being used." He was about to say more, but stopped abruptly, as if realizing something. "Stars and stones," he said. "That's why we're here."

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"Us," he said waving his hand at the the Servants at the table. "You, me, and the others. The Grail is supposed to be a huge reservoir of mana, right? So if it isn't used, but keeps filling, then it's going to overload eventually, right? There must be a way for the Grail to protect itself, to prevent it from simply bursting like a balloon that's too full of water."

"You think the secondary Servants are a way to relieve pressure?" Rin asked.

Illya looked thoughtful as well. "It's… possible," she allowed. "The Grail wasn't designed with that in mind, but it's also set limitation that were not part of the original design."

"So what we need to figure out is how something managed to get inside of the Greater Grail," Harry said. "And what that something has done to the Grail itself."

Before anyone else could comment, the phone rang. Everyone looked toward the hallway in surprise and then Shirou rose to answer it.

"Hello, Emiya residence," Shirou said as he picked up the receiver.

"Howdy," came the unexpected reply.

"Barnett?" Shirou asked, shocked at the Texan's voice. Then he flung out an arm to forcibly keep Rin away from the phone as she barreled toward him. "Why are you calling?"

"Believe it or not, to talk," Tony said.

"What about?" Shirou asked, cautiously.

"The Holy Grail," Tony said. "I think it's about time we compared notes."

"Didn't you set off a trap the last time you called?" Shirou asked.

There was a sigh from the other end. "Just tell Dresden that I want to meet under Accorded neutral ground and with everything that implies. Sinon and I will be waiting for you at his favorite restaurant. Whichever one is closest to you. I'll see you at noon, tomorrow." Then he hung up.

Shirou set the phone down and glanced at Rin, who was standing next to him with her arms crossed impatiently.

"Well?" she asked, her voice brimming with barely suppressed emotion.

"Barnett wants to meet," he said. "He wants to talk about the Grail."

Rin snorted. "A trap," she said. "He probably just wants to finish the job since it's just us and Lancer left."

They joined everyone in the living room and Shirou repeated what he'd told Rin. Link looked almost as uneasy as Rin had annoyed.

"I'm not entirely comfortable with Sinon knowing where I'm going to be," he said. "She's nearly killed me twice already, and I really don't want to have a round three."

"But, if he wanted to attack us," Pyrrha said. "Then he wouldn't have bothered to let us know. Sinon's proven that her Noble Phantasm can isolate us. All they'd have to do is ambush us like they've done before."

"He also said that we should meet at your favorite restaurant, Harry," Shirou said. "He mentioned something about neutral territory as well."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Really?" he asked and then he shrugged. "If that's how he wants to phrase it, then I'll take him at his word for now."

"What does that mean?" Rin demanded.

"That he's willing to abide by the Unseelie Accords," Harry answered. "He wants to treat where we're meeting as neutral territory for discussion. It doesn't mean much here, without any real Accords to back it, but my gut is saying that he's trying to make a gesture."

"And you're willing to trust that?" Rin asked.

"To a degree," Harry answered. "I'm still going to be ready for an ambush, though."

"And what about the meeting place itself?" Illya asked.

In response, Harry turned to Shirou. "Do you know where the nearest Burger King is?" he asked.

* * *

Shirou closed the door to his room and then turned to face Saber. The moment that their discussion over tomorrow's plan had finished, they had made their way to his room in order to speak privately about Kiritsugu.

Before Shirou could even open his mouth to ask, there was a knock on the door.

"Shirou?" Illya asked. "I'd like to come in."

Shirou let out a sigh and then Saber spoke up. "Please come in Illyasviel. I believe that it's important for you to be here as well."

Illya slid the door open and stepped inside. The three of them sat down and Saber looked uncomfortable.

"How much do you know about Kiritsugu?" she asked Shirou.

"He told me from the start that he was a mage," Shirou answered. "And he told me before he died that he'd always wanted to be a hero, but that once he got older, he couldn't do it."

Saber nodded and then held up a hand as Illya prepared to speak, silencing her. "From what I've seen in your dreams," Saber said. "He seemed like a kind man. I didn't want to tell you this because I did not want to stain your memories of your father." Saber locked her eyes with Shirou. "The man I knew, the Master I served under in the previous Holy Grail War was not the man who raised you, Shirou. Are you certain you want me to tell you about him?"

"Yes," Shirou answered. "I want to know more about my father's past."

Saber turned her gaze to Illya. "Are you certain you want to hear this Illyasviel?"

Illya nodded. "I want to hear it from you, Saber."

"The Kiritsugu Emiya I knew was a killer. While I fought against Servants in the War, Kiritsugu hunted down the enemy Masters and would use any method necessary in order to kill them.

"When it came to being a mage of the Holy Grail War, I don't believe there was a single Master who was more capable than mine. He ambushed, kidnapped, threatened, and killed the Masters in order to win the Grail so that he could achieve his wish.

"There wasn't anything that would stand in his way of gaining the Grail. If he had to kill every single Master in order to use the Grail, I am certain that he would have done so without any hesitation."

Shirou sat there in stunned silence as Saber continued to describe what Kiritsugu had done in order to try and win the Grail.

"Kiritsugu was under the employ of the Einzbern family," Saber said. "And his plan during the War was to lure enemy Masters out in the open by making them believe that his wife, Irisviel, was actually my Master."

Shirou's eyes went wide and he glanced at Illya, who sat there watching Saber speak. Several things suddenly connected together in his mind.

"'Big brother,'" he said. "Illya, you're…"

"Kiritsugu's daughter," she answered, turning her gaze to Shirou. "Irisviel was my mother, Shirou. My family contracted the battle for the Grail to Kiritsugu, but he betrayed us and never returned home after the War."

"Because instead of obtaining the Grail," Saber said. "He used his Command Seals to have me destroy it, as I told you now know. I now believe that he somehow realized that the Grail had become corrupted and so forced me to destroy it rather than let it be used."

"But, why didn't he tell me any of this?" Shirou asked. He looked at Illya. "And why didn't he tell me that I had a sister?"

"I'm not sure," Saber said. "I, personally, did not know him that well. I do know that I've never cursed a name more than I have Kiritsugu Emiya."

"Then, why were you even willing to work with me?" Shirou asked.

"You were my Master," Saber said. "And as I grew to know you…" Saber fell silent and looked embarrassed. "And, over time, I saw the man who raised you in my dreams. A man who was very different from the one I'd known and worked with. I'm not sure what to think of Kiritsugu anymore." She grimaced. "The only man who might be able to tell you more, would be that priest in the church."

"Kotomine?" Shirou asked.

"Yes," Saber said. "I don't know how he survived being shot by Kiritsugu, but he was a Master in the previous War. He was also the one Master that Kiritsugu considered to be the most dangerous."

"So that's why you won't go into the church," Shirou said. "Because of Kotomine?"

Saber nodded. "That's all I can tell you about Kiritsugu," she said. "But I would like to ask you two something." They both looked at her. "Kiritsugu is the bridge between you two, and the barrier that separates you. I hope that you two would talk to each other about him, to learn who he truly was together."

She rose to her feet. "This is a discussion you should have on your own," she said.

"Saber," Shirou said and rose to his feet as well. They met each other's eyes. "Thank you. For telling me."

Saber smiled and then left.

Shirou faced Illya, who stayed seated, looking away with distant eyes.

"Well, Illya," he said. "Should we talk?"

Illya didn't speak for a long time. "No," she finally said. "Not right now." She stood and made her way to the door.

"Illya," Shirou said and gently grabbed the girl by her arm. "Why?"

Illya's arm stiffened and her hand curled into a fist. "Because he left me," she told Shirou. "And because he stayed with you."

Illya gently, but forcefully, pulled her arm from Shirou's grip and left his room.

* * *

 **Author's note: Short chapter for today, but we have a few important discoveries now. Kiritsugu's role has been revealed as has something strange with the Holy Grail. And now we have our favorite Texan Master coming back as well.  
** **In other news: YAY! Fate/Fantasy has passed 200 favorites! That is just awesome, guys! Thank you! Thank You! Thank you!**

 **SentinalSlice: You're getting very warm. :)**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much!  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	71. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70**

 _Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names._ \- John F. Kennedy

Shirou was woken quite abruptly the next morning by the sound of a door flying open and sudden movement from beside himself. Adrenaline surged through him and instinct took over.

Shirou rolled to one side and projected Kanshou and Bakuya into his hands on reflex. The twin swords appeared in his hands with a flash of silver light and he nearly listened to the phantom reflex that advised him to throw the weapons and move. It was a good thing he didn't.

He finally saw what had happened and his heart continued to race as the sight made its way into his brain. Sakura stood next to his futon wearing nothing but a rather translucent, pink nightgown that left just enough to the imagination to make a young man interested in what was hidden away.

A small part of Shirou's mind managed to wonder where on Earth Sakura had managed to find a such a nightgown and was trying to find a reason why Sakura would be wearing it while he watched the situation begin to unfold.

The noise that had woken him had been Saber, opening the door to the room where she slept with a surprising amount of force.

Shirou let out a small breath and dispelled his projections, but he stayed where he was, watching the two women stare at each other, tension building.

"Hello, Sakura," Saber said, her voice oddly calm.

"Hello, Saber," Sakura replied, her voice oddly similar.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Saber said.

"I thought Shirou could use some company. He's had a rough time the last few days. Especially recently."

Saber's eyes narrowed. "I'm fairly certain that Shirou is fine, but interrupting his rest is certainly not going to be helpful. Neither is interrupting your own, when things have been so chaotic lately."

"My rest has been perfectly fine," Sakura assured her. "But, how is yours, Saber? Do you need anything to help recover?"

"My recovery from battle has been fine."

Shirou's eyes moved from one speaker to another, trying to work out what was going on. Based solely on the discussion, everything seemed fine, but the growing tension in the air screamed at him that something else was happening.

Sakura shifted her position slightly, making herself closer to Shirou. Saber's eyes locked onto Sakura as she moved and the tension in the air grew sharper. Saber's hands twitched ever so slightly, as if she was holding herself back.

"Are you sure you're okay, Saber?" Sakura asked, her voice gaining an almost gleeful edge to it. "You seem very tense."

Shirou eyed Sakura. Something was… wrong. The look in her eyes wasn't right, the way she moved her body was wrong as well. She sounded like Sakura and she, mostly, acted like Sakura, but the subtle pleasure in the girl's expression didn't belong there.

For as long as he'd known her, Sakura had never been one to flaunt herself and poke at others. But, Sakura seemed to be doing both, but for a reason Shirou couldn't figure out.

Sakura shifted herself again, coming slightly closer toward Shirou. Saber's hands clenched into tight fists.

"Sakura?" Shirou asked, finally daring to try and break the still growing tension.

Just then, the door behind Sakura opened.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Harry's demanded.

Shirou turned to see the wizard standing in the doorway, his expression an intense scowl. His gaze moved from Shirou, to Sakura, to Saber in turn and he didn't back down until each had turned away from him. There was a power in his gaze that had nothing to do with his power as a wizard or his status as a Servant.

Rin came up to his side a moment later and glanced quickly around the room. She made a gesture at Sakura and said, "Come on, Sakura. You should get changed."

Sakura hesitated for a moment before glancing at Harry and seeming to deflate. The odd light left her eyes and her body language shifted into something more normal, before she made her way out of Shirou's room, following Rin. A tense silence followed until Sakura was definitely out of earshot, then Harry fixed Saber with a hard look.

"So," he said. "What the hell was that?"

"She had no reason to be in Shirou's room," Saber said, defensively. "And I tried to get her to leave."

"Funny," Harry said. "It looked to me like you were ready to jump at Sakura with violence in mind."

Saber opened her mouth.

"No," Harry said, cutting her off with a hard paternal tone. "Don't start. I don't care about what was going on. I care about how you were handling it. Bandying threats, like I'm sure you were doing, wasn't going to help the situation. I'll admit that I'm the first one to throw around some banter, but that sure as hell wasn't the right time."

Saber's eyes flashed at the sting to her pride. She opened her mouth, but Harry spoke over her.

"Sakura is not someone you should be antagonizing right now," he told Saber. "Don't forget that she has a Servant of her own. If you push her too hard, whether you mean to or not, she could very well order Pyrrha to attack you, and I'm not at all sure about how that fight would turn out."

"Sakura wouldn't do that," Shirou interrupted.

Harry fixed his gaze onto Shirou. "Wouldn't she?" he asked. "A week ago, I'd have agreed with you. Now… I'm not so sure." His gaze turned back to Saber. "Which is why pushing Sakura's buttons is exactly the wrong thing to do. She sure as hell shouldn't have been in here, and I'm sure Rin is giving her a lecture on that right now. But you are as much to blame for this situation as she is. Be careful, Saber, or things might not go the way you think they will."

And then Harry left. Saber stood there, her expression hurt, and suddenly looking very young.

"Are you okay, Saber?" Shirou asked.

Saber gave him a wry, half smile. "It's been a long time since I've been lectured like that," she said. "It still stings the way I remember." Then her smile faded and she glanced away. "I didn't like the way that Sakura was pressed beside you. I had a bad feeling about her, so I treated her like a threat."

Shirou blinked. "Sakura was pressed against me?" He couldn't help the blush that came in response to those words. He might have had powerful feelings for Saber, but there was no denying how beautiful Sakura was. The idea that she had been laying beside him in that nightgown was causing a reaction.

* * *

Breakfast afterward was far more tense. Sakura sat as far away from everyone as she could while still being polite and Pyrrha sat near her, her expression distracted and worried.

Saber also kept glancing in Sakura's direction and she'd chosen to sit nearer to Shirou than she normally did, as if to protect him from any unapproved contact.

Harry's gaze kept moving from person to person, as if expecting violence to erupt at any moment.

"So," Rin said, finally breaking the awkward silence that hovered around them. "We're meeting Barnett at noon to discuss the Grail. What are we expecting him to do?"

"He's set the meeting ground," Link answered. "So he's going to have the advantage. We can expect there to be no people around, so that we'll be free to fight if it comes to it."

"And Sinon has that Reality Marble," Pyrrha added. "So she can control the battle in any way she wants."

"So why are we agreeing to this, again?" Rin asked, not bothering to hide her hostility.

"Because he's offered to meet us in declared neutral territory," Harry answered. "He told Shirou that so that I would know the level of he was willing to go to. If he attacks us in a place he wants to consider neutral territory, he knows I'm going to take it personally. Back in my world, he'd have the Accorded nations to deal with, to say nothing of Mab's reaction. Even without them here, I don't think he wants to piss me off to that degree if he can help it, since he has some idea of what I can do."

"But Barnett will hold all of the advantages," Saber said. "We're not coming into this negotiation with any power of our own."

"Sure we are," Harry said. "He's going to be severely outgunned. Even with her Reality Marble, Sinon's not going to be able to simply sweep us away. Barnett himself is going to hard pressed to stop us if we want to make a fight of it. If we're worried, we can keep a couple of people slightly away to step in if he decides to take a whack at us."

"I'm going with you," Sakura declared, her tone irresolute. Everyone looked at her. "I'm not being left behind again. Where Shirou goes, I go, or Pyrrha stays out of this."

Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably as everyone's attention fell onto her and Sakura. Harry eyed Sakura for a long moment, as if looking for something.

"There's no need to go to such an extreme, Sakura," Rin said evenly. "I was going to ask you to come with us anyway. You're as involved in this as any of us now. The same goes for you, Illyasviel."

Illya nodded. "Sella and Liz can wait outside in case he wants to try anything," she said.

"Mistress Illya," Sella said. "It is our duty to protect you from danger. Sending us away is contrary to our duties."

"Barnett hurt you," Leysritt agreed.

"Which is why we're having you wait outside of the meeting," Rin said. "You were somehow immune to the ritual he used last time, Leysritt. If he tries it again, we'll have you at the ready to get involved."

"And as useful as it would be to keep a Servant out and waiting for an ambush," Link said, his voice thoughtful. "If we're worried about Barnett setting off a trap, then having us all present will give him the sense that it is working. If we leave a Servant away from the meeting, he'll get worried that we're setting a trap of our own."

"So," Shirou said. "We're bringing everyone but Sella and Leysritt to the meeting. If it's a trap, they'll attack Barnett from the outside." He frowned. "But what if the meeting is serious? We're assuming that he's trying to take us out."

"Considering his track record," Rin said. "The odds that it isn't a trap are rather low. I'm not having a repeat incident from last time."

* * *

They chose to walk to the meeting. The bus would've been faster, but the rather strange group would've gotten a lot of attention on the bus. The Servants decided to stay materialized as well, in case of a sudden attack.

Sakura stayed at the back with Pyrrha right next to her. The looks she sent their way felt to Harry like a pair of gun barrels were aiming at them. The girl was angry and not being successful at hiding the emotion. Dresden kept his shield ready for the entire trip, his instincts telling him that the girl was dangerously close to violence, which didn't seem at all in character for her.

The group stayed silent until they arrived at their destination, Sella and Leysritt stopping short where they could watch the meeting, but avoid any immediate violence that might break out.

"Well," Harry said as he looked over the restaurant. "I'd say he's taking this meeting seriously.

The fast food chain was almost completely deserted. The only figure visible in the dining area was Sinon herself, sitting in one corner of the highly visible dining area. One of her cat ears twitched as they watched her and she turned to face them.

She pointed one finger toward the door and the signs that were on it.

A laquered sign on the main entrance read _Accorded Neutral Territory_ in bold white lettering, while a smaller sign hung from a hook suction cupped to the door. _Closed for private party_.

"Well," Link said. "I'd say he's taking the neutral territory thing seriously."

"Or he's just trying to lure us into a sense of security," Rin growled.

"So he leaves Sinon out in the open where we can all see her? Where I could simply level the building on top of her, or do any number of other impressively destructive things, because there aren't any civilians around?" Harry asked. "I think someone's feeling a little resentful."

Rin glared at Harry as Shirou made his way to the door and opened it, Saber following closely. Illya, Link, Harry, and Rin were next followed by Pyrrha and Sakura.

As they entered the fast food restaurant, the distinct lack of tension was almost jarring. Vivaldi's _Winter_ was playing over the inner loudspeakers and the smell of freshly cooking meat was wafting from the area behind the counter.

On the counter with the cash registers were several weapons, all perfectly disassembled and lined up in a row, as well as pieces of clothing. A large silver revolver with 6 large bullets in a line in front of it, a glock with 4 fully loaded clips, a slightly worn wooden handle, a full tactical vest, a pair of biker gloves, one of which had a small mirror attached to its back, a small, familiar pocket knife, and finally a pair of moderately sized wooden boxes.

Barnett himself was working the grill in the back, various pieces of meat sizzling away on the cooktop.

Tony glanced up from his work and nodded to the group walking in. "On my honor as host," he said. "I welcome you. Take a seat wherever you feel comfortable, I've got nothing to hide. Also, let me know if anyone actually wants some food. It may have been a few years, but I still remember how to work the machines back here."

Rin gave Tony a suspicious look and Harry raised an eyebrow.

Tony glanced at Rin and then quickly turned away, looking uncomfortable. "For what it's worth, Tohsaka: I'm sorry. If I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have had Sinon make that shot. But, I didn't and I did and there's no changing it now."

Harry spoke up, changing the subject. "Vivaldi?" he asked. "And _Winter_ , of all things?"

Tony grinned at Dresden even as he expertly flipped a pair of hamburgers, clearly glad for the opportunity to change the subject as well. "Just because I'm from Texas doesn't mean I don't have an appreciation for the classics. The fact that it's Winter is just a matter of good timing on your part."

"Sure it was," Harry drawled and took a seat. "I'll take something if you're serving."

Shirou glanced around the room, a reflexive frown of disapproval flashing across his face. There were worse restaurants in Fuyuki, but he'd never been a fan of fast food. Standardization made sense for things like air conditioners and machines, but food was definitely _not_ something that should be broken down into a formula.

He sat down at booth and Saber and Link joined him a moment later. Link kept glancing warily at Sinon but she hadn't made any hostile moves. Saber was looking around as well as she sat down next to Shirou, although she seemed curious as well as cautious.

Illya examined the weapons lined up on the counter with interest, gently running one finger along the wooden handle and the mirror before making her way to Shirou and joining him.

Sakura gave Illya a hostile look before moving to a table that was away from both Rin and Shirou and settling into a chair. Pyrrha joined her.

"I'll have something as well," she said politely and then nudged Sakura with an elbow. The Matou girl flushed slightly and then agreed.

Rin made her way to sit along with Harry, glaring openly at Tony the entire time. Sinon simply rolled her eyes at the display and adjusted her position, her cat's tail lifting into view.

Tony nodded amiably and began adding several items to the grill while simultaneously pulling a few items from shelves in the kitchen.

"Not a problem. I'll make a variety of things and let everyone pick their own food. There are cups in a dispenser behind the counter for those who want drinks. Dresden, if you don't mind, the two boxes next to my things. They're both labeled. Please inspect them to your heart's content before giving them to Tohsaka and Emiya."

He gestured with an elbow to the two boxes.

"Sure, why not?" Harry said and rose, walking to the counter. He glanced the boxes over before picking them up and taking them to Rin and Shirou.

Shirou held his own for a moment, looking at his name engraved in the top before opening it. Neatly filling the box from top to bottom were ¥10,000 notes, bundled and perfectly fitted together. Even without counting, there was easily more than 5 million yen in the box.

Rin eyed her own box suspiciously and Harry rolled his eyes.

"For someone who is supposed to be a pragmatist, you really know how to hold a grudge, don't you? It's not like it's lined with C4."

"Bite me, Harry," Rin replied before finally opening it. Her eyes went very wide as light seemed to shine off of the neat rows of perfectly cut gems inside. Rin fought hard to keep her expression neutral but what was in front of her was more than simply wealth.

She could feel the power that the gems were capable of. The gems she normally used in her magecraft could, given enough time and energy, be used to create A rank spells. And those were gems she had either enhanced herself to allow them to hold more energy and then built up over the course of years, or had inherited from her father.

These gems, however, were naturally spiritual in nature, and that meant that they could hold even _more_ power. Barnett had casually handed her a box full of something that she couldn't have afforded in her wildest dreams. Mages who used gemcraft were willing to kill for even a few gems of such quality. And the box held _twenty four_ such gems, neatly lined up and settled on a soft interior to avoid making any marks on the stones. Her brow furrowed and she contemplated, for the first time, the idea that Barnett might actually have been serious in his apology. But, if this was all simply a prelude to a trap, then it was working disturbingly well.

Shirou stared at the money he'd been given before glancing up at Tony while Rin simply stared at the gems, frozen in shock.

Tony watched the two of them carefully as he continued to cook. "Emiya, that should be more than enough to fix the damages done to your house as well as giving you a decent nest egg for a rainy day. Tohsaka, that's for the issues I've caused you personally and to you as Second Owner. Plus, reparations for asking for your hand the first time we met."

Harry started laughing and Sinon gave Tony a wicked smile. "I think you missed a step there, Tony. Maybe something along the lines of dinner or a movie?"

Rin's cheeks turned bright red after a moment and Tony's own expression looked almost as embarrassed as Rin's did.

"And I really should've seen that one coming, shouldn't I?" he grumbled.

Tony shook himself and then started plating the food he'd prepared before coming around to the dining area.

"Well," he said, setting the food down for easy access. "Shall we talk about the Holy Grail?"

* * *

 **Author's note: Man, the start of this chapter was really hard to get going, but I think I have something that's good now. And now we can have a Grail dialogue. Servants and Masters are gathered and now it's time to share some facts, and for others to come out of the shadows.**

 **Something else I feel I should mention: I don't plan on indulging in a lot of Heaven's Feel. I'm going to address some of the major issues that arise from it, but it won't be an extended story arc. I want to be transparent about this because I don't want to raise false hopes for those of you who might be eagerly awaiting the Shadow or even True Assassin. The story for them will have to come later.**

 **Savagemaster1999: Soon. Very soon. Although it won't be in the manner you're thinking.**

 **Lord Jaric: I mean, the man hunts Dead Apostles, I don't think Rin really scares him. Dresden might, but not Rin. And I think he's made up for that about as much as he ever could.**

 **Anon: I appreciate your review. It means a lot, more than I can say.  
Although, part of the reason the review count is low is simply because of time. This fic is only a year old, there are several amazing Fate stories that have been around for much longer, so their favorite, follow, and review numbers are much higher.**

 **Sugoijack9: I'm sorry you're having so many issues with Shirou. He gets better, I promise. He just starts off like that because it's Fate Shirou, who** _ **is**_ **naive and idiotic. And I think you'll like how I've set up Rin and Harry's relationship.**

 **Fliggy91: I'm happy I was able to give you the story you were looking for. The Dresden Files is one of my favorite book series, and I am thrilled that you recognized the what that scene meant from the beginning.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much!  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	72. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71**

 _Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger._ \- Gandalf, _The Fellowship of the Ring_

Tony set himself down on a chair near the counter and watched as everyone set into their food, intentionally waiting for everyone else to take something to eat before he took anything for himself.

Shirou, despite his reservations about fast food, had taken a burger, as had both Link and Saber.

If Link approved or disapproved of the meal, he didn't show it. Saber, on the other hand, made an odd expression as she took a bite and chewed her burger slowly.

"Is something wrong, Saber?" Shirou asked. Tony raised an eyebrow as well.

"It's not that I don't like it," Saber answered slowly. "I feel like I'd enjoy this more if I was in a different mood."

"That's certainly not the answer I expected to hear," Harry said, taking a large bite of his own burger. "This is good."

Tony smiled and took a bite of his own. "We're not allowed full access to our family's funds until we work a minimum wage job for at least one year, sometimes more," he told them. "It's supposed to teach us the value of a buck. My first job was at a Burger King."

"What did you when you were done?" Rin asked.

"I bought the place and gave everyone there a dollar raise," he answered. "I'd learned the value of a buck."

"That's a strange way of doing that," she said.

Tony just shrugged. "It works," he said. "It certainly goes toward making sure none of us end up as spoiled brats who don't appreciate the value of money. I'm not lining up to get myself a golden toilet, at the very least."

"So the Barnetts have plenty of money to throw around?" Rin asked.

"It's not bad," Tony answered. "I've got enough spending money to get by."

"So what's a guy like you doing here for the Grail War?"

Tony simply shrugged. "I was on vacation," he answered. "I've been travelling around before getting back to work and I decided hitting up the big spots in Japan was a fun idea. I stopped in Misaki city briefly in October." Then he raised his eyebrows. "And when that started to go horribly wrong I decided to make my way here. I wanted to see the city of the Grail War before all the madness started again in a few decades."

"What does that mean?" Rin asked.

"The White Princess took my hotel room," Tony answered, his voice bland. "And the entire floor. I saw her when I was trying to check in. I figured it was best to get out of dodge and jump to Fuyuki a little earlier than I planned."

Rin's face grew visibly paler at the title and she replied, "Oh. I see."

Tony nodded and tilted his head toward Sinon.

"I was just minding my own business one day when she appeared out of nowhere and I got Command Seals on my hand. I spent the three months or so before the War kicked off lying low and figuring out what was going on."

"Three months?" Rin asked. "You got your Servant three months before everything started?"

"It's not impossible," Illya said. "We summoned Berserker a year before the start of the war. Ghost Rider appeared a few days after that."

"A few days?" Rin, Shirou, and Sakura all asked at the same time.

"I got Harry within maybe 30 minutes," Rin said.

"And Link appeared almost immediately," Shirou added.

Sakura nodded her agreement.

Illya tilted her head and Tony's expression grew thoughtful. "Why the time difference? The Grail is usually consistent, ain't it?"

"Yeah, but it's not supposed to be summoning Heroes from parallel realities either," Harry said. "So we already know that it's not performing up to code." Harry rubbed his forehead in thought before looking at Saber. "You said that you blew the Grail up once already."

"Wait, what?" Tony asked.

"Yes," Saber answered. "At the end of the last war, Kiritsugu ordered me to destroy the Holy Grail with my Noble Phantasm."

"What?" Tony asked.

Harry grew thoughtful again. "What if you didn't actually destroy it, Saber?" Harry asked. "What if, I don't know, the Grail actually ate the energy you threw at it? It's supposed to be a wish granting device, right? So it needs to get the power to do that from somewhere. Maybe you just," he slammed one fist into his other hand, "gave it a sudden jolt of power?"

Illya shook her head firmly. "The Grail isn't designed to take in energy from any other source than the Lesser Grail," she explained. "Even the Noble Phantasm of a Heroic Spirit wouldn't be enough to throw things off balance this much."

"But Harry's idea is too good to simply ignore," Rin said, growing thoughtful herself. "If you destroyed the Grail at the end of the last war, Saber, then it didn't get to use the power it has stored up for that war. Maybe that's the cause of the problem?"

"You're saying that the Holy Grail got blue ballsed?" Tony asked. "And that since it now has a chance to let loose that power, it's trying to get rid of as much as possible?"

"Yeah that's what we think," Harry said. "If the Grail is just a container for energy to grant wishes, then it has an upper limit to how much juice it can hold. That extra power might be putting strain on the Grail itself, so it's releasing power left and right in an effort to protect itself. Which is why we," he gestured to the present secondary Servants, "are here. It's also probably why the Grail war is happening so early as well. For all we know it might be causing other problems too." Harry frowned. "And if that energy is causing strain then maybe that's allowing the thing inside it to have greater control over the Grail's functions."

Tony turned to face Saber. "So, before I get interrupted again," he said. "You blew up the Holy Grail?"

"Yes," Saber answered. "In the last war."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "I thought Servants were just copies of epic heroes. How the hell do you remember the last war?"

"Magic," Harry replied for Saber. "And we've got bigger things to worry about right now."

"True," Tony said after a moment. "There's still the problem about what you sensed at the temple."

"So it was you who was eavesdropping on us," Harry said.

"I'd had the same idea. I wanted a peek at where Caster had made her lair. You got there first because I can't teleport around the place."

Harry childishly stuck his tongue out at Tony. "But, yeah, _something_ nasty is inside that thing. I don't have any idea how, but it's in there and it's aware." Harry shuddered, the crystal clear memory of those eyes staring back at him, unbidden. "And I can't trust the Grail after seeing that. Especially since it's already showing flaws by summoning us."

Something occurred to Shirou and he looked Illya. "Didn't you say that the Grail is designed to only take energy from the lesser Grail?" he asked. "So how did something manage to get inside the Grail?"

There was a long moment of silence as everyone looked at Illya. The girl seemed to shrink under the attention for a moment before she straightened herself.

"I don't know," she replied. "There shouldn't have been any way for something to get inside the Greater Grail. There's no function for it to take energy from other sources to protect it from tampering. Nothing should be in there."

"Speculating isn't going to get us anywhere," Tony said. "We need more data, but we don't have the time to get it. So let's just focus on the here and now."

"So what should we do with the Grail right now?" Rin asked.

"We can't let anyone use it," Shirou said, immediately.

"Agreed," Link said. He glanced at Saber. "Do you think you could destroy the Grail again?"

"Yes," Saber said. "I can use my Noble Phantasm on it again if it manifests."

"I'll help," Link said. "So we can be sure it's gone this time."

Sinon suddenly spoke up. "What about Lancer?" she asked. "He's still out there."

"We're just going to have to make him see reason," Tony said. "Otherwise, we'll have to take him out." He glanced at Rin. "You're sure that the Grail is going to manifest at the temple?" Rin nodded in answer. "Fine, then I'll make sure that it's empty for the next several days."

"How're you going to do that?" Shirou asked.

Tony waved a dismissive hand. "A little cash, a little hypnotic suggestion, maybe a polite word or two, and a dashing smile. You know, the usual."

"So we'll let the Lesser Grail manifest itself and then blow it up," Harry said. "What about the Greater Grail? It's the real problem."

"So long as the Grail isn't used, then it shouldn't be able to do anything," Rin said. "Then we can get the Association to dismantle it. Right, Illya?"

The Einzbern nodded, staying oddly silent.

"Then it sounds like we have a plan," Tony announced and stood up. "I guess that just leaves us one last thing to discuss. Where am I staying?"

"Excuse me?" Rin asked, her voice sharp with annoyance.

"I'm not fighting you guys," Barnett said. "I may want some excitement, but I'm not stupid. If the Grail's busted, then the last thing I want to do is be tempted to use it." He nodded toward Shirou. "He's the one with the Servants that can make the thing go boom. We'll let him do it."

"What does that have to do with your sleeping arrangements?" Rin asked.

"I figured you'd love the opportunity for him to be under your power," Sinon commented. "Barnett and I decided that if things fell a certain way, then we'd want to stay close to you as an act of trust. If things went poorly, then we'd simply leave. But if the Grail truly is corrupt, then I want to make sure that no one else can use it."

"And that means working with you," Tony finished.

Rin gave him a look and then looked at Shirou.

"It's your house, Emiya," she said. "What do you think?"

Shirou looked Tony and Sinon over. Barnett's body language was relaxed and, as far as he could tell, his offer of truce was genuine. Sinon's expression was impassive, and he couldn't get any sort of read off of her. Like Rin, the archer was skilled at keeping her thoughts and emotions hidden away from casual observation.

He glanced at Saber, silently asking for her thoughts. Her own gazed moved between the two of them, trying to gauge the two of them.

"You're big on how I do things," Harry said. "Are you willing to follow the obligations of a good guest?"

Tony nodded. "I am."

A cold light gleamed in Harry's eyes and Sinon tensed slightly. "And you're aware of how _I'm_ going to take that if you go back on your word? Even if Mab isn't around to help drive the point home?"

Sinon reflexively tensed at the threat, ready for sudden violence. "Yep," Tony replied, genially. "Don't worry, Dresden. If we want to stop things, we'll let you guys know first and then quietly make our exit. I swear it, by my power."

Harry turned to look at Shirou. "He has my vote. What do you say?"

Saber nodded to Shirou and he faced Tony. "I guess you're staying with us," he said.

Rin eyed Tony for a long moment before sighing in defeat.

* * *

It took a little while for Tony to be set up in the house. Largely because he insisted on taking a guest room that was as far away from Rin as possible.

Sinon had found this endlessly amusing.

"What's the matter, Tony?" she asked, smiling. "You've already tied her up and given her jewelry. You might as well stay close at this rate."

Rather than snap at her, Rin turned bright red and then stalked away toward her room. Tony gave his Servant a look.

"You're never letting me live this down, are you?" he asked.

"Of course not," she said and then spun to face Shirou. "Is there another set of Western rooms we might be able to use? Apparently my Master gets embarrassed easily and I have to ensure his safety."

Shirou saw the amused light in her eyes as Tony gave her an annoyed look.

"Sure," he told her and pointed out the second set of guest housing. "There's a couple more Western style rooms over there."

Sinon didn't answer and Shirou gave her a confused look.

The playful light in her eyes had vanished and she watching Sakura out of the corner of her eye. Shirou followed her gaze just as Sakura left them to go to her own room.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No," Sinon said, though her voice was cautious. "Everything's fine." Then she set off toward the room Shirou had indicated.

Tony was looking around, his head turned upward toward the sky. "You've got an interesting bounded field," he said. "It's very open, but you can feel the sheer firepower pointing at you as well." He smiled. "It's like a dad sitting on the front porch with a pair of beers and a loaded shotgun."

"I wouldn't know what that's like," Shirou admitted, at a loss for what else to say.

"It's an American thing," Tony assured him, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm guessing the offensive part of the field is Dresden's handiwork. You don't seem the type to load up on that sort of thing. No offense."

"None taken," Shirou said. "I've got to talk to Link about figuring something out for dinner. Fuji-nee will probably be stopping by soon and she'll lose it when she finds out about the kitchen."

"Fuji-nee?" Tony asked.

"My guardian, Taiga," Shirou explained. "She's less my guardian and more like my sister."

"Oh, the lady who keeps stopping by here," Tony said. "Yeah, don't worry about her."

Shirou raised his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked, carefully.

"She's currently enjoying a culinary tour of Japan," Tony said with a shrug.

Shirou simply stood there, trying to picture whatever chaos Taiga might have been creating at that moment when something else occurred to him.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"'Cause I'm the one who sent her on it," Tony said. "The Fujimura Group is one of the biggest organizations here, and I had to get my weapons into the country somehow. The old man's price was that I go on a date with his granddaughter."

Shirou gaped at the image of _Taiga_ out on a date with the man in front of him.

"That… Well, let's just say it was an interesting failure and leave it at that," Tony continued. "I sent her on the tour as a kind of thanks, and so I wouldn't have to mess with her head if I had to attack your house again."

He followed after Sinon, slapping a friendly hand on Shirou shoulder as he passed. "If you guys want any take-out let me know. I'll pay."

* * *

It was after midnight when Shirou finally entered his room to rest. It was too cold for him to spend all night in the shed, so he'd gotten his nightly practice in and then come back to try and get some sleep.

As sleep was starting to close in on him, there was a very faint and timid knock on his door.

"Shirou?" Sakura asked very quietly. "Are you awake?"

Shirou glanced at the door to the side room where Saber slept, but there wasn't any sign of movement.

"Yes," he answered, softly. "Is something wrong?"

There was moment of hesitation before Sakura let out a breath. "Is it okay if I come in? I need to talk to you about something."

Shirou tilted his head in confusion. _What would Sakura need to talk about this late?_ he wondered. Then he remembered the last time she'd asked to come into his room. She'd been scared and feeling vulnerable, and she'd been worried about the War.

"Sure," he said, sitting up.

The door slid slowly open and Shirou froze as Sakura stepped into the room. Sakura's body appeared to glow with the night as her completely naked form came into his room. She held her hands clasped in front of her and her dark eyes were looking down in embarrassment. Her cheeks were flushed red and the only other spot of color on her body was a blue mark set just above and between her breasts, near her heart. The image was of a simple spear or arrow piercing a circle, or maybe a shield. One half of the circle had faded away into near invisibility and Shirou realized that it was the Command Seal for Pyrrha, who wore a similar emblem on her waist.

No wonder he'd never seen Sakura's status as a Master. The guaranteed clue was hidden under her clothes, out of sight.

Shirou ripped his gaze up toward Sakura's face and fought with every scrap of his will not to look anywhere else. He tried to speak, to say anything, but his throat was locked tight and he could barely breathe.

"Shirou," Sakura said, her voice breathless. "I…" She glanced down again and took a deep breath. "I can't keep it under control anymore. I've been waiting for so long."

A smell flowed into Shirou's nostrils and his pants suddenly felt too small. His mind was starting to burn out and become fuzzy. His eyes began to drift away from Sakura's face.

Then, an image flashed through his mind. The night in the Einzbern forest with Saber. That image galvanized him and his mind became clearer. He fixed his gaze on Sakura something strange caught his attention.

Sakura's eyes were very wide, and strangely absent, as if she was asleep. Her body shone slightly with moonlight coming in from his window, as if she was sweating from a fever.

"Sakura," he managed to say. "Are you okay?"

"Shirou," Sakura said, stepping closer. "I can't help it anymore. I-"

The door behind Shirou flew open and blast of air cleared away the scent in the air and Sakura's eyes went very wide as Saber all but flew into the room, grabbed her by the arm and very nearly threw her through the door behind her.

"Saber!" Shirou exclaimed, snapping out of his daze and hurrying after them, catching up just as Saber forced Sakura out into the courtyard.

Sakura moved to her feet with a strange agility and glared at Saber.

Saber's armor appeared as she returned the glare. "What. Are. You. Doing?" Saber asked, her voice absolutely frigid.

A feverish light shone in Sakura's eyes and she didn't look away.

"I'm doing what I've always wanted to," she answered, her own voice becoming harsh. "I've watched and waited for so long. I've held onto that dream as I've waited and used it to hold on to who I am, and I will _not_ let that be taken from me!"

By now, the others were starting to appear. Rin and Harry running from their guest house and Illya, Sella, and Leysritt moving to the porch from their room. Shirou heard a soft sound from the roof, and assumed that Sinon had just landed there. He couldn't bring himself to look away and check.

Sakura turned to look at everyone gathering and the light in her eyes seemed to become even brighter.

"I won't let any of you take this from me!" she shrieked. "I've waited and suffered for this and I will _not_ let you come in and take what I've longed for! Shirou is _mine!"_

And then something disturbing happened. The bells hidden in the roof of the house, the ones Kiritsugu had tied into the bounded field surrounding the house, began to chime. Every single Servant in Shirou's field of view locked onto Sakura and took a reflexive step back. At that moment, Shirou somehow understood that, if he wished it, he could unleash enough elemental fury onto Sakura to reduce her to a pile of ash.

Some part of Shirou's mind that was still managing to be rational realized that Harry, when setting up the extra defenses around his house, had programed the wards to only engage if Shirou wanted them too.

But Shirou could only focus his attention on Sakura and the massive pulse of magical energy that was suddenly coming from her. Shadows began to rise from the ground around her and her body started to change.

Sakura eyes, still full of the mad, feverish light, had begun to shift from their deep purple to a blood red, and her hair, billowing out from her as if it was in a powerful breeze, had begun to shift in color as well, becoming paler and beginning to turn white.

"Oh Hell's Bells," Harry said and his staff blazed into life, shining with silver fire.

Saber and Link's weapons materialized and the held them in ready stances and Shirou heard a clicking sound from above him as Sinon readied her own weapon.

Illya's eyes were very wide and both Sella and Leysritt had positioned themselves in front of the girl, as if to shield her from possible harm.

"Sakura!" Shirou shouted, ignoring his own instincts to arm himself.

Sakura's eyes locked onto his and the light seemed to fade slightly and the hate and anger in her expression softened. Then she jolted into a stiff posture and dropped to the ground like a puppet cut from its strings, her body twitching and shifting erratically.

The power radiating from her vanished and the instinctive understanding of the new defenses around the house faded from Shirou's mind. After a moment, Sakura's hair started to shift back to its normal purple hue.

The air next to Sakura rippled and Tony appeared, wearing nothing but a pair of loose athletic shorts and holding a stun gun in his hand. He stood over the prone Matou for a moment, watching carefully before taking a few steps away. Shirou noticed a set of five scars running along Tony's chest as he backed away. They resembled a claw mark that had come from a human shaped hand, and they ran from his left shoulder to his right hip. The scars still looked bad, as if they hadn't healed correctly.

"Okay," he said. "Now what-"

Without any warning, at all, Pyrrha flew from wherever she'd been hiding and ran toward Sakura.

Rather than grab her, like Shirou had expected, she grabbed at Sakura's chest and yanked violently. There was a snapping sound and Pyrrha hurled a necklace that had been rendered invisible on Sakura straight into the air. Then, in one fluid motion, she pulled her spear, shifted it into a rifle and fired it three times in rapid succession.

There was the sound of shattering glass and Pyrrha spun to face Harry, her eyes wide with alarm. "We need to isolate her, now!" she said, fear making her voice sharp.

"Circle?" Tony asked, glancing at Dresden.

"At least two," Harry said and they, with Pyrrha, quickly made a pair of perfect circles in the dirt around Sakura.

Dresden knelt at each one and pressed his fingers to the line. Shirou could feel the mana from the wizard as he empowered them and stepped away.

"Now what the _Hell_ was that?" Tony demanded.

* * *

 **Author's note: Hello, Heaven's Feel! You're here at last. I think it's time to start showing off what these characters can do. Zouken won't know what hit him.  
For those of you who might be curious about Tony, a fun fact I can drop is that his theme song is Dogs of War by Blues Saraceno. Also, he is from a mage family that has been around since before the founding of America. So when he said he had some money to throw around, keep in mind that this from a guy whose family owns some of New York City.**

 **Genesis09: I am overjoyed at you love this story. It has been a blast writing it and I hope you continue to enjoy it as the story keeps going. And, don't worry, there are plans for Kojiro Sasaki. Short and abrupt plans, but plans.**

 **Hero of Justice Roxas: I'm glad to see you're having fun. And, technically, the score is more like Dresden-2 Tony-2. The choice for Heaven's Feel wasn't really about Shirou (although the darkness of that timeline was a contributing factor). While it might have been possible to incorporate the Shadow or make Zouken a more significant player for this story, I felt that it wouldn't do that timeline justice. The best way to enjoy a Fate/Fantasy Heaven's Feel, to me, would be have that timeline stand on its own. As it stands, a real Heaven's Feel experience just isn't possible at this stage, like you've said.  
As for the Reality Marble, well, I guess we'll see.**

 **Anon: Funnily enough, sunshine is not a word I would associate with Sakura in this chapter. And I find it kinda funny that the events of this chapter played out like your review suggested. I had it written long before today, so that's just a funny coincidence.  
Also, I wouldn't exactly call Harry charismatic in the last chapter. He just went into Dad-mode.**

 **Savagemaster1999: And now prelude has become appearance, at least, briefly. I hope you like the references to Tony's backstory hidden in the chapter. And, since you brought it up, WardenMyst and I are actually planning on creating a full story for one Anthony Barnett. I don't know exactly when we'll be able to get it rolling, but it will absolutely be released before certain other projects get going.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much!  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	73. Chapter 72

**Content Warning: Direct reference to sexual assault is in this chapter. No details, simply direct discussion.**

 **Chapter 72**

" _Faith sustains us in the hour when reason tells us that we cannot continue, that the whole of our lives is without meaning."_ \- Brother Alwyn, Babylon 5

"I'll explain in a moment," Pyrrha answered. "But first I want to make sure we can put Sakura somewhere more comfortable than freezing out here without any clothes on. I'm not saying anything until then."

"Fine," Harry said. He pointed at Rin. "You and Shirou go and wait in the living room." Then he pointed at Saber, "You go with them."

Harry spoke in a voice that demanded no arguments, only obedience. Saber glared at Harry, but didn't press the issue, leaving with Rin and Shirou while Pyrrha ran to go grab clothes for Sakura as Tony and Harry went to prepare a better defense for whatever had just happened. Link, Sella, Leysritt, and Illya stayed to make sure nothing happened to Sakura while the others worked.

* * *

It wasn't that much later when Pyrrha and Harry joined Rin, Saber, and Shirou in the living room. Harry had told everyone else to stay away.

"So," he said. "What in the name of Everything just happened?" he asked.

Saber and Shirou explained what Sakura had been doing before she had thrown the girl from Shirou's room.

"Sakura lost control," Pyrrha said, once they were finished. "The Matou magecraft went out of control and Sakura was nearly lost."

"Magecraft?" Shirou asked. "But, Shinji said that mage families only pass down their arts to the eldest son."

Rin snorted. "Shinji's self absorbed enough to actually believe that line," she said. "What mage families actually do is pass their craft on to the eldest child with the strongest magical circuits." She looked away from Shirou. "That's why my father gave her to the Matou, our old allies, so that the Matou line wouldn't die out."

Shirou froze at Rin's words. "What?" he asked. "Sakura is…"

"My younger sister," Rin finished, not meeting Shirou's eyes.

Dresden locked his eyes onto Rin and Shirou realized that the wizard was completely still. Tension radiated from the Caster, as if he was barely staving off anger.

"Why?" Shirou asked.

"Because a mage's crest can only be passed on to a single child," Pyrrha answered. Rin nodded, not appearing surprised at Pyrrha's knowledge.

"A mage's crest is the collected knowledge and techniques of a mage family. There's only ever one in a family, so it can only be given to a single successor. What happens in a mage family is that any other children are either given up for adoption or raised without any knowledge of magecraft at all."

"But Sakura was born with powerful magic circuits," Dresden said. "So your father gave her to a mage family so that she could also learn, right?"

Rin nodded. "The Tohsaka are allies with the Matou, the Grail War being the only time when that is exempted, so my father gave her to them, since their magecraft and potential had died out to the point of being human."

"So what happened to Sakura after that?" Shirou asked.

"Zouken, her new grandfather, trained her," Pyrrha answered. "He altered her body to be more in line with the Matou magecraft and then he implanted her with his Crest." Pyrrha shuddered and closed her eyes. "Her training was horrible, and she learned to shut herself away during the worst parts of it. It's what allowed her to stay sane while Zouken changed and twisted her into what you saw earlier."

She stood up. "You have the basics of the situation," she told them. "I need to go to her before she wakes up. I don't want her to lose control again." She started to leave.

"Wait!" Harry said. Pyrrha stopped. "You're still hiding something," he told her.

Pyrrha didn't answer. "The necklace I took off of her when Barnett knocked her out was a vial that could be remotely activated by either Zouken or by Shinji if I crossed the line. Zouken made it absolutely clear that he would be watching me closely throughout the War. I'm already gambling with her life by telling you this much already. I'm certain that he has another way of getting to Sakura even without the necklace. If you want to do more to help her, Harry, then do your job as a Warden." Then she left.

"What did that mean?" Shirou asked.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the door. "That Miss Nikos there knows something of what I can do. And that it's high time I took a closer look at the Matous."

"So, what's the plan?" Rin asked.

"We wait for Sakura to wake up," he said. "And then, we'll get the rest of the story from her." When he exhaled, a plume of cold air appeared and Shirou felt the air grow cold. "And I make sure Zouken can't use whatever gun he has to Sakura's head."

* * *

Sakura twitched slightly and then her eyes flew open and she looked around wildly.

"Easy, Sakura," Pyrrha said soothingly. "It's okay. You're okay."

"I…" she said. "I don't…"

"Take your time," Pyrrha told her. "You're safe here." She gestured at the ground around Sakura, which was marked with chalk, gems, precious metal, and candles. There was a second glowing circle outside of the first. "We had to put you in an empowered circle. It was the only thing we could think of to make sure you couldn't be influenced."

"What did I-"

"You didn't do anything, Sakura," Pyrrha said, cutting the girl off. "The worm started to go out of control. We managed to keep it contained until you came back."

Sakura seemed to fall into herself, shame and self loathing coming off of her in waves. "Did I hurt anyone?" she asked, very quietly.

"No," Pyrrha told her. "You gave us quite the scare though."

"Shirou knows now, doesn't he?"

Pyrrha nodded reluctantly. "He knows enough. I had to tell him. He wasn't going to accept anything but the truth."

Sakura seemed to grow even smaller. "Does he hate me?" she asked in a very low voice.

"Of course not," Pyrrha said. "And neither does Rin. They want to be sure that you're okay. They could never hate you."

"But- I-"

"That _thing_ isn't you, Sakura," Pyrrha said sternly. "You had no choice about it. You haven't done anything."

The door opened and Dresden walked in, followed by Rin, Shirou, and Tony.

"How's she doing?" Harry asked.

"She's awake," Pyrrha answered. "And she's herself. I'm worried that Zouken might know what we're doing and try to take control the moment the circle is down."

"Same here," Harry said. "That's why we've got two set up." He nodded his head toward Barnett. "And why I asked him to come too. Apart from me, he's the only mage here with real combat experience. If anything goes wrong, the two of us should be able to keep the mayhem contained."

He stepped over one glowing line and the power faded from the circle. Before he took another step, he turned and laid his finger on the outer circle. Power snapped back into place and he made his way to Pyrrha.

"There isn't a mage alive who can get past a circle I've placed with my Noble Phantasm," he told them. "This was the circle that kept the Loup-garou contained. No magecraft is going to break through it. Zouken doesn't have what he needs to do it." He crouched down in front of Sakura; the girl shying slightly away from him.

"Sakura," Harry said, his voice gentle. "We don't know everything about your condition. And what I need to know will get kind of technical."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Do you want to get rid of this thing inside of you?" he asked. "If we can find a way to remove it, do you want us to?"

Sakura went still and her eyes moved to Pyrrha. The Lancer gave the girl an encouraging smile.

"What would you have to do?" Sakura asked.

"Right now I just need to understand how this thing works," Harry told her. "But to do that, I have to get a good look at it. I need to see how it ticks. If I can do that, I might be able to suppress it, maybe even destroy it without hurting you."

"How?" Sakura asked.

Harry lifted his right hand. "I just need you to take my hand and tell me that you want this. I need your permission for this to work."

Sakura didn't move for several moments that stretched for what felt like an eternity. Then she placed her hand in his.

"Yes," she said. "If you can stop this, then I say yes."

 _ **"White Night,"**_ Harry intoned.

The change in Sakura was immediate. Her posture went completely stiff, as if she'd been suddenly shocked and then she relaxed and her eyes went out of focus for a moment.

Shirou tensed and Sakura adjusted her position and glanced around as if trying to get her bearings. Then Sakura looked at Harry, who was still crouched in front of her, completely still. As she removed her hand from Dresden's grip, he caught sight a mark centered on her palm. A strange, flowing symbol reminiscent of an hourglass.

"I… _She_ doesn't deserve you," Sakura said to him. Harry visibly relaxed and Shirou felt the hair on the back of his neck raise.

The voice had been Sakura's, but something about it had been… off. In fact, _everything_ about Sakura seemed off.

The way she held herself was different, the way she spoke, even the sense of her was just slightly different. She was far more sensual in the way she sat and the way she moved. She looked more… confident. A difference that was subtle, but profound.

"Well, that's creepy," Tony commented, shifting his weight slightly.

"What did you do?" Shirou asked.

Sakura was the one who answered. "My host has used his Noble Phantasm to allow me to borrow Sakura's body. It was why he asked for her consent, to be sure that I would be able to come in."

"Who are you?" Shirou asked, his stance shifting to become more hostile.

"Lash?" Rin asked, awed. "Is that you?"

'Sakura' smiled. "Indeed, Rin. I am she."

"That's impossible," she said. "You're a part of Harry. You can't just jump into someone else."

"You're correct," not Sakura answered. "Normally I can't. But, as a Servant, my host's Noble Phantasm can allow me to."

"Lash is the shadow of a Fallen Angel," Harry explained. "She's a photocopy of the personality and knowledge of Lashiel. A Fallen can only come into someone who gives in to their temptation or persuasion. That's how I got Lash in my head. I grabbed her coin of my own will, even if I didn't take it up completely, and I got the shadow imprinted in my mind."

"But I grew," not Sakura said. "I changed and became an independent being. I made a choice to stay with my host and break away from my original self."

"So all I did was use my Phantasm to recreate that moment and dropped Lash into Sakura," Harry finished. "It won't last forever, maybe a day at most, but it'll be more than enough time for us to get this mess figured out."

"So what did you do to Sakura?" Shirou demanded.

Not Sakura smiled. "She is simply sleeping. She won't wake from her dreams until we can resolve what is happening. I am already trying to repair the damage that has been done."

"Damage?" Rin asked.

Not Sakura gave Rin a look. "Did you not find it strange how hostile your own sister had become? Jealousy and possessiveness can drive someone to go far, but the outright anger was not part of Sakura's character. I certainly didn't think that attempted seduction was typical of her way of thinking. I know that for certain now that I'm in her mind. Her psyche has been attacked and influenced by magical forces. I'm repairing what I can, but most of the work will have to come from Sakura herself."

"So what was going on?" Harry asked.

"She has been implanted with several very unusual articles," Lash answered. Shirou made an effort to try and remember the name of the being who was currently possessing his friend.

"The one we need to worry about at this moment is the girl's magic crest," she continued. "The girl's nervous system has been nearly consumed by creatures that are acting as her magic circuits. It's also worked as a method for Zouken to press on her psyche. It serves as a method of control for him."

Shirou ground his teeth together in an effort to contain his anger. Rin, for her part, looked equal parts furious and horrified.

"Her magic crest is spread through her entire body?" she asked. "But… what that would do to her. I'm fully in sync with my own crest, and I still feel like I want to cut my arm off some days."

"But only because they're using her nervous system," Tony said. "If you use the body itself, you can reduce the strain."

"What do you mean?" Rin asked.

Tony took off his shirt and spread his arms out. As they watched him, his veins began to glow with silver light. "My crest is spread throughout my bloodstream," he explained. "By integrating it with with a natural body system, I reduce the strain the crest places on my body because it isn't treated as a completely foreign object. The worst days for me are when I get sick, which has helped encourage me to take care of myself." He put his shirt back on and glanced at Sakura. "But her crest isn't working _with_ her body, it's been taking it over, hasn't it?"

Lash nodded. "That stress has existed through Sakura's entire body, correct. She is surprisingly strong willed to have held off the pain for so long. On top of the other abuse she has experienced and the psychic damage done by Zouken in the last several days, likely to turn her against us, it is astonishing that she only just now broke."

"Abuse?" Rin asked.

A dark, furious light shone in Sakura's eyes for an instant. "She has been raped, Rin," Lash answered. "Sakura has been used like a battery. Repeated sexual encounters in order to charge the shattered fragments of a Holy Grail that have been implanted within her as well. All the magical energy she generates is consumed by the worms within her in order to charge this Grail. She's been used so that the worms will not consume her own life energy." Sakura turned her head to face Pyrrha. "You've been supplying her energy from the moment Miss Matou started staying here at Shirou's."

"Longer," Pyrrha said, her voice very quiet. "I've been using my aura to try and keep the worms suppressed. No one has touched her since the moment I was summoned. I made it clear that I wouldn't allow it."

"You knew?!" Rin shouted. "You knew what was going on?"

"Yes," Pyrrha answered.

Rin opened her mouth and then stopped. "You…" she said. "You tried to tell me. You've been trying to tell me since we first met, despite the surveillance on you. All the pieces were right…" Rin suddenly slumped to the floor. "I'm such a fool. Why didn't I put it together sooner?"

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said. "I didn't dare be more direct. If Zouken had caught on, he would have triggered the worm or set off the necklace. Sakura wouldn't survive it, even if she lived. So I did everything within my power to direct your actions so that you could discover the truth on your own. If I acted directly, Zouken would have countered me by striking at Sakura, or moving in a way I couldn't anticipate."

"She was a hostage," Tony growled. "You don't have any magic of your own, so you couldn't do anything to stop it even if you wanted to."

"And Rider was under the command of Shinji," Pyrrha added. "She might have been able to help, but Shinji never gave her any freedom. If Sakura lost control, either on her own or by coercion, none of us would have been safe. Her, most of all."

"Indeed," Lash said. "Sakura here has enough power to destroy everyone here. The Matou magecraft is within her, even if she cannot access it on her own."

Lash lifted one of Sakura's arms and Shirou saw lines of purple light slowly forming on it. "At least," she added. "For now."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

Sakura smiled. "I'm slowly converting the worm into a true magic crest for Sakura," Lash answered.

"How the hell are you doing that?" Tony asked.

"Precise control and application of Hellfire," the Fallen's Shadow replied, with a small smile. "Think of it as magical antibodies. As I destroy minor portions of the worms, I take the energy and convert it into a more passive form. Once we solve the immediate issues, I'll be able to work more directly and at a faster pace."

"How?" Tony asked.

Lash raised one of Sakura's eyebrows. "What part of Fallen Angel did you not comprehend, mortal? There are applications and theory to magecraft that your kind has not even begun to conceive, let alone explore."

"So what's our next step?" Harry asked, speaking in a carefully neutral tone. The wizard's body was tense, and Shirou couldn't help but picture a large mountain cat in the wizard's place, waiting to pounce on a prey animal.

"We go for Zouken," Shirou answered. "I'm not letting him get away with this."

Tony sighed. "We ain't getting much rest tonight, are we?"

* * *

 **Author's note: And now the skeletons are out of the closet. I think this is the darkest chapter I have, considering the content, but, thankfully, this is the only time I have to indulge in it. Now that the secrets are out, they can be solved. And Shirou gets to be a superhero. :)  
Also, we are at or past the 200 mark for reviews, favorites, and follows! That is absolutely AWESOME! Thank you! Thank you all so much!**

 **Finally: A special shout out to SentinelSlice for solving my challenge about Shirou and Archer! Great job, man!**

 **KiroZen: Oh, don't worry. I think you'll enjoy what I have planned.**

 **Hero of Justice Roxas: Yeah, it was fast, but this has also been building in the background for a good portion of the story. And you've already begun to see the repair work for Sakura, the rest will be coming up shortly. As for Zouken, well, killing that SOB is actually rather tricky.**

 **Anon: And the feels train keeps on chugging. Also, Barnett's done a bit more than some S &M with Rin. He did just hand her a not-so-small magical fortune as an apology.  
:D**

 **1eragon33: Oh, yeah, Shirou and Link are absolutely peas in a pod. It's why Shirou was able to summon him in the first place, since Secondary Servants are summoned through compatibility.  
I actually have had very little exposure to Kingdom Hearts, so I'm afraid I can't contribute to any discussion there. Sorry about that.**

 **Sheikhrajela: It would be ironic indeed if that was why Pyrrha was keeping secrets. I hope this chapter helped demonstrate that that was** _ **not**_ **the case. Because secrets are not a part of Pyrrha's character and I can't see her keeping any unless she genuinely believed she had to or, like here, because she had no choice. Volume 3 really demonstrated that Pyrrha's not that good at hiding things and Pyrrha has also spent a vast part of this story trying to point out that something was wrong.**

 **KhanhM: I didn't feel it was right to place this story in the crossover section. Yes, it has characters from other fandoms, but the events and story are very heavily Fate based. All these other characters are doing is bringing their own experiences and powers into the Grail War, and only in the same manner as any other Servant would. There hasn't been any other influence from their worlds. No vampires, no Grimm, no demons escaping from Hell, and no virtual reality. Also, the influences are so varied that it would be impractical to place it in that section, especially this late into the story.  
Also, I find it really amusing how my 200th review was a heckle about its site placement.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much!  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	74. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73**

 _Fuck subtle._ \- Harry Dresden, _Changes_

Shirou stepped firmly onto the Matou's property and projected the Master Sword into reality with a flash of silver light. The magical equivalent of all hell breaking loose happened right there.

Mana surged through the air and the house's automatic defenses came alive in response to the challenge Shirou offered.

"He's updated the defenses," Pyrrha said from her position beside Shirou.

"At least the hole in the wall has been fixed," Shirou commented and the two of them made their way down the yard.

Barely five feet from where they'd started, Shirou felt a barrier form in front of him and he stopped short.

"Bounded field," he said.

Pyrrha reached one hand out and it stopped as if encountering an invisible wall.

"It's a physical barrier," she said. "I think he's testing us. If we break this down, then he'll know that we're serious about coming inside." She glanced at Shirou and tilted her head at the barrier. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Shirou nodded and ran the Master Sword through the barrier as if it was made of paper. The sword flashed with golden light and the barrier shattered from the power of the Noble Phantasm. The sword had deflected magical attacks far more powerful than whatever Zouken had placed into the barrier. Whatever power Zouken had placed into the barrier wasn't even close to enough to stop the power behind the blade.

The two of them continued their trek to the door, wary for whatever defense would be up next. No matter what happened, Zouken would know that they had entered the property.

The two of them stopped short of the door and Shirou gently rested his hand on the wood.

 _"Trace on,"_ he said. With a single pulse of mana, Shirou spread his awareness and understood the physical structure of the entire house, forming a blueprint within his mind. He spotted what he was looking for immediately. The hidden door on the second floor of the house that led into the stone basement.

Shirou pulled his hand away and opened his eyes. "The door's right where you said it would be," he reported. He reached for the door handle, but Pyrrha stopped him.

"No, let me go first," she said. "If Zouken has a surprise in store, I'll be able to handle it better than you."

Before Shirou could object, she forced her way past him and opened the door. As soon as she stepped inside, several wriggling grey objects dropped from the ceiling and shot out from concealed holes in the walls.

There was a flash of red light as something formed over Pyrrha's body and turned away the things before they could touch her skin. Then Pyrrha pulled her compressed spear and slashed the airborne things before they could reach the ground.

She then rotated and the spear in her hands shifted into a rifle and she fired at the ones squirming away from her on the ground. Her bullet turned one into paste and the few others that were around her wriggled away back into concealment.

"Shirou," Pyrrha said. "Where were the tunnels?"

Shirou pointed to a pair of spots on the walls around them. As he'd scanned the building with his magecraft, he'd spotted several unusual tunnels spread throughout the mansion. Almost like rat tunnels, but too well constructed to be made by rodents.

Pyrrha nodded and fired several more bullets. Rather than fly in straight lines, the way bullets should, the rounds twisted in the air and flew into the openings Shirou had pointed out. Less than a second later, there were some sickening sounds of impact and red fluid leaked from the hidden openings.

"What were those things?" Shirou asked.

"Lust worms," Pyrrha answered, disgust in her voice. "The signature of the Matou magecraft. They feed off of mana and life energy and can be transformed into the bugs a Matou can use to defend himself. They're like familiars but with some combat utility. If they touch you, they'll start to rapidly drain you. They might even be able to quickly kill you, I'm not completely sure."

"How'd you stop them just now? It looked like you stopped them from touching you."

"My aura," Pyrrha answered. "The manifestation of my soul. By projecting it outward as a force, I can deflect harm. As a Servant, the Grail has enhanced it to allow me greater control of the energy. I've mostly been using it to try and keep the worms in Sakura suppressed."

Shirou nodded. "Let's keep moving." He made his way down one hall and then came to a stop. There was a humanoid figure standing in the hallway, blocking their path onward.

It was small, stooped, and supported itself on a stick-like cane. Shadows fell around him in a way that concealed his form, but it matched the description he'd been given of Zouken. Anger burned in Shirou chest and he shot forward with a shout of challenge. The figure shifted, as if in surprise, and Shirou slashed it with the Master Sword.

The Blade of Evil's Bane blazed into light for a moment, and then the projection simply broke down and vanished into errant sparks of light.

The stooped figure suddenly straightened and grew in height, becoming darker and more menacing.

Shirou grimaced as he realized he'd been played into precipitous action. The shadowed figure lashed out with a fist, lightning quick, but not nearly so quick as Saber. Shirou twisted his body in an evasion, the motion containing the eerie familiarity that he now knew was his body's reflexive use of Archer's combat technique.

His evasion and the shadowy figure's forward momentum brought him behind the being. Before it could turn and attack him again, Pyrrha's spear flew through the air and impaled the shadow.

The creature arched as if it was in pain, but it never made a sound. There was the crack of a gunshot and the spear lurched itself forward and completely through the shadow and into the floor next to Shirou.

The shadowy figure spread into vapor and then faded into nothing as Pyrrha walked to her spear and pulled it from the floor.

"Nice evasion, Shirou," she told him. "Even if the creature wasn't that smart, it still wasn't expecting you to move so well."

"Thanks," Shirou said and the two of them made their way toward the second floor.

It wasn't until they reached the stairs when the next trap went off. As Shirou set one foot on the stair, there was a low rumbling sound. The top of the stairs suddenly became very dark and something huge began moving down them.

"Is that a boulder?" Shirou asked. There was no way that it was an actual boulder, but considering how the shadowed figure had reacted to his projection, Shirou wasn't going to take any chances.

He pulled the trigger in himself and engaged another projection. The jagged and twisted dagger that had taken Saber away from him appeared in his hand with a flash of silver light.

As the boulder came barreling down the stairs toward him, Shirou thrust the dagger, _**Rulebreaker**_ , before himself and into the boulder. There was a strange sensation, like he simultaneously slashed with the dagger and cut something with a pair of scissors, and the boulder exploded into random, chaotic streams of mana that couldn't do anything.

Shirou let out an appreciative sound and looked at the dagger of Medea. "Wow, that's far more handy than I thought," he said and dismissed the dagger.

The two of them climbed the stairs and made their way toward the false wall Shirou had located. Several steps in and the shadows on the ground writhed and the shot forward toward them.

Shirou recognized the attack. Shinji had used the technique during the Bloodfort. These shadows were far darker and moving much more quickly. His first impulse was to simply withstand them like he had with Shinji's attack, but he quickly dismissed that notion.

Shinji had had no talent or skill with magecraft. Zouken, however, was on another level than Shinji.

So, rather than simply charge forward, Shirou countered with his own magic. His next projection was of a metal kite shield emblazoned with a coat of arms that had never existed in this world.

 _ **"Shield of Hyrule,"**_ Shirou declared, and the plane of metal shone with power and expanded into a solid barrier of power that could repel almost any attack, be it magical or physical.

Pyrrha leapt over Shirou as the barrier formed and surged down the hallway, dodging and weaving between the streams of shadows with a level of skill and grace Shirou was sure he'd never be able to replicate.

As Pyrrha evaded another stream of shadows, she thrust her spear forward and into something set into the wall. The streamers of shadow fell away and Shirou dropped his own barrier a moment later.

Their gazes met for a moment and they nodded to each other before turning toward the false wall. Shirou reached out and pushed on the wall to open the hidden door.

There was a sudden and painful ripping sensation from him and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He could feel his mana being pulled away from him like blood being pulled into a tick.

Shirou set his teeth and projected Rulebreaker once again and stabbing it into the wall. There was that severing sensation once again and the draining stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

The force of the stab also helped push the door open on silent and hidden hinges, revealing a twisting stone staircase. There was a flash of light and Shirou instinctively moved in a dodge. He shouldn't have bothered.

The small handful of steel spikes that had been projected and hurled at the now open doorway swerved around Shirou without coming close to him and embedding themselves in the wall behind him.

He glared at the spikes and then at the stairway. "Projection is my thing," he complained and hurled Rulebreaker at the point of origin for the projected attack.

The dagger struck the circle and denatured any magecraft that might still have been within it before it faded away into sparks of green and silver light.

"What happened to the spikes?" he asked.

Pyrrha gave him a conspiratorial wink and approached the doorway.

The stone stairway before them was old and slightly crumbled in parts. It was also only wide enough to let a single person down at a time. Pyrrha went down first with Shirou right behind her.

As much as he wanted to go first, Pyrrha's reflexes were simply much faster than his own. If anything came at them from the front, Pyrrha was fast enough and strong enough to be able to dispatch it quickly. And if Zouken tried the boulder trick from behind them, Shirou would be able to stop the attack before it could affect them.

Neither of those events happened as they made their way down the stairs. Instead, the stairs themselves suddenly became a slick and even surface. Shirou lost his balance and fell into Pyrrha which knocked her over.

Before they could go into a complete fall and slide down into whatever trap Zouken had set at the bottom of the stairs, Pyrrha managed to drop her shield on the ground and adjust their combined fall so that they wound up standing on the shield like it was a saucer sled.

The shield began to carry them down the stairs at speed, but some kind of resistance that was greater than simple friction kept the descent from being too fast and Pyrrha controlled their movements even with expert skill.

They slid down the final stretch of stairs into a tall and wide stone room full of opening in the walls large enough to hold bodies. A strange green light created enough illumination to see what was around them.

The shield came to a safe and solid stop at the bottom of the stairs and there was a disgusting squishing sound as the bed of lust worms that had been at the bottom of the stairs were crushed by their combined weight spread across the round shield.

The stone room was completely empty of any other living thing except for a stooped, old man standing in the center of the chamber, supporting himself on a stick-like cane.

"So," Zouken Matou said. "You managed to make it all the way here. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. Many of these secondary Servants are far more versatile than their primary counterparts, since most of them have lasted this long. To think that the Grail would have the power to tap into the Second Sorcery. Maybe the Einzberns were closer to creating the real thing than any of us gave them credit for." He shifted his gaze toward Pyrrha. "So you've finally decided to betray us, Lancer, rather than simply dance around at the edges of the conflict, leaving crumbs for others to find." He tapped his cane on the ground once. "I suppose I'll have to find some way to bring you under control. I can't afford to lose a pawn as powerful as you when no other options for Servants remain." He shifted his gaze back toward Shirou. "But first, I'll have to remove this boy to bring the girl back under control as well."

Worms shot out from patches of concealment and hurled through the air to latch onto Shirou.

Shirou pulled the trigger inside himself and started generating mana for a projection, but Pyrrha had already gone into motion.

She twisted and leapt through the air, her red and bronze spear extending and slashing the incoming worms into small, useless pieces, before she turned to face Zouken and shot him three times in the chest as her weapon shifted into its rifle shape.

Blood and worms fell from Zouken's body and Shirou saw the flash of pain that went across Zouken's expression, but, otherwise, the old man didn't move.

"Hmm," Zouken murmured, looking unimpressed. "If you're going to be that insistent, we can talk for a moment longer. I have plenty of time, after all."

"Why?" Shirou demanded. "Why did you hurt Sakura?"

The old man chuckled. "Because she had been given to me to keep the Matou line form dying out. Pain is a rather effective motivator and it allows for a student to be properly molded to serve a purpose."

"What?" Shirou asked, shocked by the man's words.

"Did the Tohsaka girl not tell you?" Zouken asked. "Sakura was originally born to the Tohsaka's. Both of the girls were born with powerful magical circuits, and Tokiomi was very traditional in his methods. He would only pass his crest and knowledge on to only one child. Since our own family had no such children, he agreed to give us his youngest so that both of his daughters would be able to become mages."

"He would never have given her to you if he'd known what you would do to her," Pyrrha growled. "He assumed you'd give her proper training, not torture and change her."

"Ignorant Servant," Zouken replied. "You know nothing of how our world works. For Sakura to be able to master the Matou magecraft, she needed to be altered to be more receptive to the skills our line has created."

"There's preparation and then there's cruelty," Pyrrha said. "You twisted her, tried to break her, and turn her into nothing more than a doll for you to use. I know exactly what you did to her and how far you were willing to go for your own goals. What Sakura wanted had nothing to do with it, and neither did the good of your family line."

Zouken stared at Pyrrha for a moment.

"Hmmm… I never did understand how that mental connection between Servants and their Masters was formed," he said. "I suppose it might be a side effect of how Servants can mentally communicate with their Masters. I've always found the idea idiotic myself, as if looking into the past of a Servant or Master would ever actually yield useful results."

"I'd disagree," Shirou said.

"Oh?" Zouken asked, looking amused.

"I was able to understand Saber far more once I saw what her life was like," Shirou said. "And she was able to understand me. We were able to work more effectively because of that."

"Servants are nothing more than familiars to be used," Zouken said. "Their cooperation is only a secondary factor. If given the opportunity, many would destroy their Masters and seek the Grail on their own. That's why the Command Seals exist, to ensure that the Servants remain as tools."

"Saber and the other Servants are people!" Shirou insisted.

Zouken let out a long sigh. "Any proper mage would understand what I was saying, but it appears that you don't have the proper training to be a true mage." He eyed Shirou. "Although, you appear to have some interesting skill with projection magic. I do find myself curious about how you were able to project Noble Phantasms."

"Sure," Shirou answered. "I'll tell you once you explain why you kill people in order to live longer."

Zouken opened his mouth and then stopped and went completely stiff. Then he locked his eyes right onto Shirou.

"What have you done?" he demanded.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked, with all the innocence of a child who knew they'd been caught red-handed. He wasn't able to hide the sharp smile Zouken's reaction prompted. It meant the plan was in motion.

Off in the distance, even through the stone of the basement, they could just barely make out the sound of explosions. Zouken's expression grew hard.

"Answer my question, insolent boy," he demanded. "What have you done?"

Shirou smiled Archer's cocky smile.

* * *

 **Author's note: How our dear little Shirou has grown up. Kicking ass and taking names. I personally feel that I gave Zouken a lot of credit for his defenses. As far as I can tell, the guy is mostly a one trick pony.  
We also hit a new benchmark, guys! Over 250 followers! Thank you all so much! Every favorite and follow means a lot to me. More than I can say.**

 **Hero of Justice Roxas: Eh, I think the Grail fragments have to be specifically used before they become a problem. But, I do believe that they're still stuck in her and can't be removed to the best of my knowledge. It's an academic matter, in any event.**

 **PasiveNox: It is time indeed.**

 **1eragon33: Oh, Link gets to have some very special fun with the mass of worms Zouken is using. I am, however, going to have to dock you some points for your incorrect use of: their.**

 **Cogitore Celian: Thank you. :) Sorry about that, but there really isn't much I can do about that. I am glad that you're enjoying the story despite that, though. I'm really fond of Rin/Harry as well. And endearing is** _ **exactly**_ **the right word to use there.**

 **KiroZen: Soon, very soon. And now that Warden Myst has told me about that particular scene, I think you'll enjoy how it'll play out.**

 **Guest: I really don't think so. The only part that could be considered overreaching is the inclusion of the HF content, even limited as it is. Fate and UBW mesh extremely well together (which I believe is by design). And while it could be considered overreaching, I actually need these HF events to happen.  
It might not be obvious, but there is a plan. Several of them, actually. Some are more ambitious than others, but there are other forces in motion. HF serves a purpose here, as does the interweaving of all three timelines.  
** **All I ask is for a little faith. And, hey, if I do screw it all up, then it's going to be a very valuable lesson for me.**

 **Anon: I will note, good sir, that I am not forcing you to do anything. Also, I am not at all confident in my ability to create a ShirouxHarem. I'll leave that to Neoalfa and the others until I'm better at that.  
** **Thank you. I've worked really hard at getting the Secondary Servants to weave in correctly, but part of the fun is letting their alien nature to the Nasuverse grant certain… advantages to the other characters in the story.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much!  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**

 **P.S. I don't know if anyone is paying attention to the chapter quotes, but I hope you appreciate the joke I built in there.**


	75. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74**

 _Lone Power, I accept your gift, but take up my gift of equal worth. I take Death with me out of time and make of it a path, a birth. Let the teeth come. As they tear me, they tear your ancient hate for aye. So rage proud Power, fail again, and see my blood teach Death to die!_ \- Ed'Rashekaresket, Deep Wizardry

Anyone can lie, or set up a con in order to achieve a goal. People do it every day. They lie to maintain their pride, they lie to help others, they lie to get what they want. Everyone lies, and everyone cons. The best liars and con artists, however, are the ones who can set-up well enough to fool even the cleverest of marks, and the ones who know how to plan just enough to get the job done, maximizing the payout of their scheme. The best lies are ones that contain truth, and the ones that stay simple.

The first step in the counter-con to stop Zouken was _very_ simple.

"You want me to do what?" Shirou asked.

"You need to stab Sakura," Lash said. "We can't afford the risk of Zouken taking control of Sakura with the worm inside of her. As long as the circle is active, he won't be able to affect it, but we can't leave Sakura locked inside it forever. We're going to need her in order to destroy Zouken's trump card."

"But how would stabbing Sakura help stop Zouken?" Shirou asked. Then his eyes went wide as what Lash was asking clicked into place. There was one thing that could sever the connection between the worm in Sakura and Zouken's will.

 _"Trace on,"_ he said. The dagger of Medea appeared in his hand with a flash of silver.

Sakura smiled and lifted her hand. Shirou passed the dagger to her, and Lash made Sakura ram the dagger into herself. Sakura shuddered violently for a moment and sweat suddenly beaded on her forehead.

"Sakura?" Shirou asked, concerned.

"Now," Lash said, as Harry dropped the circle. "We need the model."

Harry grinned and turned to face Rin. "Congratulations, kid," he said. "You're going to get a lesson in thaumaturgy."

Both Rin and Tony raised their eyebrows as they made their way into Harry's workshop.

"Thaumaturgy is all about connections," Harry explained. "If I want to track someone, then I need something from them; hair, blood, fingernail clippings; so that I can create a connection to my target. That's how I was able to find Mitsuzuri. I visited her house and took some hair from her hairbrush, and used that to find the hair still connected to her head.

"If Shinji had known what I could do, the smart thing for him to do would have been to shave her bald, so that my spell couldn't lock onto her."

Rin nodded. "So thaumaturgy is the art of making and exploiting connections between different objects and people." Her eyes narrowed in thought. "So you could do more than simply track her with some of her hair, couldn't you?"

"Exactly," Harry said. "If I used the right materials and enough power, I could do all sorts of things to her. I could even kill her from the relative safety of my lab."

"Book one," Tony agreed. "The Shadowman."

"So what are you going to do?" Shirou asked as Sakura moved to the model, Harry stepping beside her.

"Zouken made the mistake of tipping his hand to the one pawn he didn't think would be taken away from him," Lash answered. "He taught Sakura plenty about the uses of magic and the Matou's main specialization in magecraft: absorption. There are far more mysteries embedded within the very worm he placed inside of her." Sakura gave Shirou an evil smile that made a small shiver run down his spine. Sakura should never have such an expression on her face. "Mysteries _I_ can read."

"What kind of mysteries?" Rin asked. Sakura gave Rin a look.

"Now that's hardly polite, Rin," Lash said. "But one thing I will share is how Zouken has stayed alive as long as he has.

"His body isn't human. It's actually constructed from the very lust worms he uses in his magecraft. When Zouken dies, his worms seek out a female victim and then attack her to consume her and use her body as the host to create Zouken's new human-like shell.

Rin looked sick and Tony's eyes blazed with hate. Shirou could feel rage burning inside of himself too.

"He kills people to live longer?" he demanded.

"Women, specifically," Lash clarified. "The old fool has quite a bit of knowledge stored inside this creature. As well as a substantial portion of himself. Leaving the issues of morality or ethics aside, it's actually rather clever if he ever found himself facing off against a stronger opponent. He can both convince them of his death, and still continue existing without anyone being the wiser. He can guide these worms with his will, so he can survive just about any situation he finds himself in."

"Then Sakura…" Rin said.

"Could have become an extension Zouken at any time he chose," Lash answered. "She would have become his puppet. At least, in theory. I'm not certain how effective the process would be against someone as strong willed as Miss Matou. Given the right circumstances, such a process might backfire."

"Thankfully," Harry said. "Zouken won't be trying anything. Since Shirou gave us Rulebreaker, the magecraft connection between between the worm and Zouken has been broken."

Rin tilted her head. "So why are we using the model? If the connection between Zouken and the worm is severed, then what you going to do?"

"Use the model to find the other worms Zouken uses," Lash answered.

Tony whistled. "That connection still exists?" he asked.

"Because Rulebreaker only nullifies magical connections," Harry said.

"And only magical connections that the wielder chooses to sever," Lash added.

"But it doesn't unravel the nature of things," Harry said. "Even though Zouken is no longer connected to the worms inside of Sakura, it still has a connection to all of the other worms, since they're just lesser versions of the worms inside of Sakura."

"A connection you can use," Rin said.

"Bingo," Harry said and faced the model. "Now, let's see where the old bastard likes to hide these things, then we can have some real fun."

* * *

"So," Shirou said, after he'd explained to Zouken the highlights of their planning for the evening. "Harry was able to track down the locations of your worms. Every. Single. One. And once we got their locations, all Barnett needed to do was make sure that there wouldn't be able people around for Link's part in the plan. It's been a busy night as a result."

"And just what might that be?" Zouken asked, his body tight with tension.

Shirou smiled. "Bombs," he answered. "Apparently he has bombs that can sprout legs and move to a specific target before they detonate. And since Harry can open portals to specific locations, all Link had to do was deploy them through the gates Harry opened. And whatever worms the bombs don't manage to kill, Barnett's magecraft will clean up. You have no escape now, Zouken."

Then Zouken did something Shirou hadn't expected. He started to laugh.

"Foolish boy," he said. "It would appear that you've forgotten the most obvious safe place for my worms. Your own Servant wouldn't set off an explosive right here, where you are. And no matter what sort of tracking magic the Tohsaka girl's Caster possesses, I highly doubt that he's keeping it running right now. My remaining worms are already making their escape while you've stood there and wasted time by talking."

"Are you sure?" Shirou asked, his smile sharpening.

Zouken's eyes suddenly went very wide and he let out an inhuman screech of fury.

"And now I imagine that the worms trying to make their escape have just run into Barnett's incinerator field," Shirou commented. "I volunteered to make this raid against you so that your attention would be focused here, and not on the outer areas of the house, where Barnett was busy setting up his own bounded field just outside of your own. If your worms try to make an escape through any path you've given them, then they'll be burned to a crisp in moments. We made sure to have everything in place long before Pyrrha and I actually came here to kick this off." Then the smile dropped from his face. "It's over, Zouken. You're finished."

True anger burned in Zouken's eyes and his face twisted into a snarl. "You think that you have won, boy. But, even now, I still have worms. I will simply use you to make more, and I will twist that Servant next to you into a suitable pawn. A Command Seal will not work in this place unless I allow it, so there's no escape for her, either."

And then worms slid out of the holes in the wall and rapidly began to converge on Shirou and Pyrrha.

Pyrrha spun her spear in her hand and hurled it straight into Zouken with all of her strength, the end of the spear discharging to launch the weapon at greater speed. The weapon lodged itself into Zouken's body and the old man stumbled back a step from the sheer force of the strike.

Shirou didn't move. He simply stood there for a moment and let out a breath. _"Trace on,"_ he said. A small handful of swords flashed into existence with silver light and then hurled through the air, impaling and slashing worms as they impacted with the stone floor, ceiling, and walls. While the burst of flying steel killed many of the worms, there were still plenty to kill him.

Shirou lifted his hand and a murmured: _"Trace on,"_ once again, and he projected the majestic purple hilt and the gleaming silver blue blade of the Master Sword once again.

 _ **"Blade of Evil's Bane,"**_ he declared and the sword burst into brilliant golden light. The lust worms that surrounded them let out a shrieking sound at the sudden and near blinding illumination.

With a contemptuous flick of the sword, that golden radiance reached out and shriveled the worms in the chamber into brittle husks that collapsed under their own weight and became nothing more than dust.

Even Zouken shied away from the brilliant light of the sword, his body seeming to quiver unnaturally and he hissed in discomfort.

"I told you, Zouken," Shirou said, cooly. "It's over."

He took a step forward and Zouken took one back. Shirou continued to move and Zouken tried to retreat, but there was nowhere for him to run to. Shirou had already told him how they'd blocked off every route of escape.

His hidden worms were gone, tracked down and killed with magic that simply hadn't existed within his understanding. His own house had been turned into a fox trap and Shirou had just annihilated his only remaining option. Even if he'd been young enough and strong enough to try and overpower Shirou, Pyrrha stood near him, more than fast and strong enough to kill him a dozen times over.

Zouken's old and stooped form met with the cold stone of the wall.

"Tohsaka and I have some final words for you," Shirou said. Then he shot forward with sudden speed and rammed the Master Sword through Zouken's body.

The Matou let out a howling shriek of agony and then became dust from the radiance of the sword. "Stay away from our family," Shirou said.

* * *

-Interlude-

As the light of the sword plunged into him, Zouken felt his body wither away into dust, an agony that he'd never experienced before. He shrieked as he felt death coming for him. All of his planning, decades and decades of research and study and experimentation destroyed by nothing but an overly idealistic child and Servants of the very system he had helped create.

As his body completely disappeared, his awareness seemed to flicker and he was surrounded by darkness.

He couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel, couldn't smell, and couldn't taste his surroundings, but he was very, very much alive.

His final safeguard was still intact. The Crest worm that had been implanted at Sakura's heart was still alive. The worm that contained knowledge and a significant portion of his soul still remained whole.

It would take a long time, but he'd be able to regain control of the girl. He was a patient man, he could wait until the boy and the Tohsaka girl dropped their guard, then he'd be able to continue where he'd left off.

His mind performed the equivalent of an amused chuckle. For all of the boy's boasting and the thoroughness of the group's planning, they had missed his final safeguard.

His awareness frowned after a moment. Something was off.

The night before, he'd felt something happen to this particular worm. He hadn't been able to feel its presence. He'd been cut off from it somehow, and then he had felt something else strange from it several minutes after that. A strange, alien, severing sensation.

So, if he'd been cut off, why was his awareness here now?

If he'd had a body, he would have started sweating from the steadily increasing heat.

 _Heat?_ he thought. He wasn't supposed to feel anything in this state. He was simply a spirit inside an inert container, after all.

A woman's voice let out a musical laugh from somewhere around him.

 _"Foolish, foolish mortal,"_ the voice crooned. _"What do you know about souls? Did you not think that_ I, _who was there at the birth of the universe, would not spot this function of your familiar? That I would not have prepared something special for this final fragment of your spirit? I was the one who severed the connection between you and this worm, not Shirou Emiya. I planned for us to have this talk. It is time to balance the scales, worm. It is time for you experience the agonies you inflicted upon this child, through fire."_

The final remains of Zouken Matou burned as Hellfire, focused like a scalpel, destroyed the last of the worms that had been implanted with Sakura's body.

-Interlude out-

* * *

"Now," Pyrrha said, as the powder that was left of Zouken fell to the ground. "There's just one last thing to do." She glanced around. "Do you think there's anything in this house that Sakura is going to miss?"

"I'm not sure," Shirou said. "Why?"

"Because I want to burn this whole place to the ground. I refuse to have Zouken win with some sort of hidden surprise we haven't expected. We destroy it all. Right down to the foundation."

Shirou stared after Pyrrha as she made her way back up into the main house to start the fire before hurrying after her.

Shirou and Pyrrha left the burning building and met up with Tony, who was standing outside, putting a cell phone in his pocket. Pyrrha was carrying a collection of materials that they'd decided together should escape the blaze. She'd checked each item and book as thoroughly as she knew how before taking them and starting the fire that would burn the house down.

* * *

Tony glanced up as they reached him.

"You get him?" he asked Shirou.

"Yes," he answered.

Tony smiled. "I just called your house. Dresden says that he can't find any more of Zouken's worms in the city. Lash will be able to finish her treatment of Sakura now. All we have to do is wait for her to wake up."

Pyrrha let out a long sigh of relief. "Finally," she said. "It's over."

Tony nodded his head to the collection. "What's that?"

"The books and few possessions of Sakura's we thought should survive," Pyrrha answered. "I want you to check these for traps and then we'll have Dresden look them over before they get anywhere near Sakura."

"Yeah," Tony said and looked over Shirou. "How're you doing, Emiya?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"Are you? This is your first time killing someone, ain't it? And it wasn't in the heat of battle, you made that choice."

Something twisted in Shirou's stomach as Tony pointed that out. He had made the choice. He'd chosen to end Zouken's life, rather than save him.

"I'm not really sure," he admitted.

"If you had to do it again," Tony said, his voice somber. "Would you?"

Shirou didn't hesitate before he answered. "Yes," he said. "What he did to Sakura was inexcusable. I don't have any idea the true extent of what he did. I can't even begin to imagine it. But it scarred her, and I don't know if she'll really recover."

Pyrrha laid a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "She will, Shirou," she said. "When she has a friend like you, and a sister like Rin, she'll heal. You did the right thing." Then she started walking back toward his house. "You'd have made a fine Huntsman, Shirou. I'm sure of it."

"You two go ahead," Tony said. "I'll set the bounded field to make sure the fire burns away the workshop too, then catch up."

* * *

Everyone sat around the large outdoor table Tony had set up in the courtyard while they waited for Sakura to wake up. The only one who was absent was Pyrrha, who had insisted on waiting with her Master.

"I guess that this only leaves us with one final problem," Rin said.

"Lancer," Saber agreed.

"Yeah," Tony said. "I haven't seen hide nor hair of him since he gate crashed my last run at you guys."

"And he ran the moment we all returned from Sinon's Marble," Link said. "It's odd. I figured he would have stuck around for a least a little bit."

"It might look like a coward's tactic," Harry said. "But it's actually kind of clever. Most of his competition is gone."

"And he knows plenty about us, while we only know a little about him," Sinon agreed. "We know his name and his Noble Phantasm, but not who his Master is or where he's hiding." Her eyes narrowed. "I don't like it. I'm fairly sure that this is some kind of trap."

"Even so," Rin said. "We hold both Sabers, a Lancer, a Caster, and an Archer. We can approach him from a position of strength and probably convince him to back down. With simple numbers, if nothing else."

"I don't think Lancer's the sort of guy who's intimidated by numbers," Sinon said. "And with his Noble Phantasm, he can still turn the fight to his advantage. It's not like we can really stop him from using it."

Rin opened her mouth to counter, but Sakura stepped out of the guest house at that moment. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at her as she made her way out of the guest house.

Sakura looked tired, and sad, but her steps were steady and her color was good. She looked over everyone for a moment and then took a deep breath. Then she moved resolutely toward Shirou.

Before anyone could act, she reached him and wrapped herself around him in a strong hug. Shirou hugged her back and he felt something wet fall onto his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered. Then she pulled away and made her way to Rin and hugged her tightly as well.

Rin went stiff for a moment, as if she wasn't sure what to do, then she returned the hug and the two of them exchanged words that were soft and hard to hear. Then they pulled apart and Sakura turned to face Saber.

The two of them simply looked at each other for a long moment, neither one of them speaking, or even blinking as they traded gazes. Then Sakura leapt forward and hugged Saber as well. "Take care of him for me," she whispered into the Servant's ear, before pulling back and finally seeming to grow embarrassed.

She sat down, her cheeks pink, and her eyes lowered. Then, Sakura set her shoulders firmly and glanced at an empty cup that was sitting on the table. Sakura raised one hand and lines of purple light shown down her arm.

In design, the Crest looked a lot like Rin's own, made of glowing lines and tattooed to her skin. Sakura's, however, were all in graceful curves that formed what Harry recognized as angelic script, rather than the rigid lines and designs like Rin's Crest.

A tendril of shadow rose from the ground and wrapped itself around the cup before drifting back to Sakura and setting it in her hand. Then the tendril reached out and poured her some tea from the kettle they'd set out before placing the kettle back and dropping out of sight onto the ground.

Everyone stared at Sakura and she kept her gaze averted and took a drink of her tea.

"I guess you've learned how to use your magecraft," Tony said after a moment.

"I had a good teacher," Sakura answered, and glanced sidelong at Rin. "Sort of."

Rin's eyes shone as they met with Sakura's own.

"I think your father would've liked to see that," Harry said.

* * *

 **Author's note: And thus, Zouken was no more. The worm is** _ **thoroughly**_ **dead, may it never return. As I said before, I was only lightly touching on the HF content. We can now return to our regularly scheduled Grail War.  
Now that the crisis is done, I will say that I hope I did a decent job at making it weave into the main events of the story. Could it have been done better? I certainly think so, but, then again, that's what this is about. Practice and fun. I tried my best to build this all up slowly and have this final part be the grand conclusion of something building up subtly over time. I hope I did alright and that I'll be even better next time.**

 **KiroZen: As a huge fan of Jeff and Casey's work, I really can't argue with your choice of music. :)**

 **KombaiHound & Hero of Justice Roxas: I would claim that he is pulling off a Harry Dresden rather than a Kiritsugu. There's a **_**very**_ **fine distinction, since any building that actually falls to the ground is more of an accident than the design. A technicality, true, but one I will hide wildly behind.**

 **1eragon33: My trick is this: If the sentence can work with 'they are', then it's they're. If the thing I'm talking about belongs to someone else, it's theirs. If that something happens to be in a direction I can point to, then it's over there.  
Shirou has grown up quite a lot, which was actually a major point to this small arc. Shirou was able to seriously contribute to this crisis because of how much he has grown up and improved.  
Also, there is considerable irony in what you just said. ;)**

 **PasiveNox: Your welcome. I try my best. :)**

 **Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros: Hey! It's been a while! I'm so happy that this story has been such a treat for you to read. And, trust me, I have plans for both the Holy Grail and Illya. You'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Guest: True, HF is a very different road, and one I want to explore more completely at another time. Thank you for your trust and, just like I was telling Zane, there are plans for Sakura Matou as well. It's just going to take some time for them to blossom.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me, and they really are helping me stay strong.  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	76. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75**

 _Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage._ -Lao Tzu

For the first time in days, Shirou woke up feeling relaxed. The Grail War was entering its final stage and with the odds set firmly on their side. Sakura was on the path to recovery and the War was starting to become manageable. He felt warm with the knowledge that things were looking up.

For several moments, Shirou simply laid there, sorting out the rush of feelings that were now surging through him. The Grail War had been such a major element of his life over the last few weeks that it felt like his life previous to Saber's arrival was a distant, near forgotten thing.

The relaxation he'd been feeling slowly faded away as that thought took hold of his mind. _What will happen once the Grail War finally comes to a close?_ he thought. _It's not like we can use the Grail. There's something inside of it._ Any wish placed onto the Grail couldn't be trusted, Harry's reaction to what was inside of it was proof enough of that.

But, that meant that once the War was over, the Servants would disappear. Saber, Harry, Link, and Pyrrha would all return to wherever they came from.

 _Rin's probably already realized this too,_ Shirou thought. She was too good at hiding her emotions for it to be obvious, but she was also too smart to have not realized the situation herself. _But, she's still going through with this._

Rin might have soft spots for those she willingly brought into her life, but she was too pragmatic to ignore a situation just because she didn't like it. Rin would have prepared something for the end, a simple good-bye, if nothing else.

 _Can I, though?_ he thought. _When the end finally comes, will I be able to say goodbye?_

Suddenly, lying on the futon didn't feel as comfortable.

He shifted himself to rise from bed, and finally noticed why he'd been feeling warm this entire time.

As he moved his body, there was a small grumble of protest from beside him and something small pressed itself more closely against him.

Shirou's eyes widened with mild alarm and he moved his covers to see Illya literally in the bed with him, half asleep, and curled up to him like a child sleeping next to a parent. It would have been adorable except for the recent crisis involving Sakura.

Shirou let out a surprised shout and violently pulled himself away out of sheer reflex. Illya got up and sleepily rubbed her eyes. "What's wrong, Shirou?" she asked.

"Wh- What are you doing in my bed?" he asked, panic making his voice slightly higher.

Illya looked at Shirou in confusion. "I was cold," she answered.

Shirou blinked at that. Illya had felt too warm for her to really react strongly to the cold. Before he could open his mouth to ask what she meant, the door to the adjacent room opened to reveal Saber.

She took one look at the tableau before her and her eyes narrowed in disapproval.

"Shirou?" she asked. "Am I going to have to worry about this with every woman who shares a house with you?"

The subsequent string of possible images that flashed through Shirou's brain nearly killed him right there.

Illya pouted for a moment before getting to her feet.

"Oh, it's nothing like that, Saber," she said, smiling innocently. "I just like having fun with Shirou sometimes." Then she all but danced out of his room, leaving the door open behind her.

Saber and Shirou glanced at each other. "She's a kid," Shirou said, hoping the excuse would be enough. "I think we can let it go."

"She's older than you are," Saber pointed out.

"So maybe our Master has a thing for older women," Link said, coming into the room. "Breakfast's getting ready. I figured you might like some tips on how to cook over a fire, Shirou. You interested?"

* * *

Breakfast was a little more chaotic than usual. All throughout the preparation, Illya stayed near Shirou, watching intently and, generally, acting like an excited child. This annoyed Sella considerably, much to Harry and Tony's amusement.

"Oh, let her be," Harry told the maid. "She's a kid, let her act like one."

"Mistress Illya is an Einzbern," Sella declared. "Not some common child." She glared daggers at Harry, making clear her disapproval of the wizard.

Harry just laughed.

"Stars and stones, you're worse than the Council," he told her. "You mages have way too much of a sense of propriety for your own good. Always dressed to the nines, always insistent on decorum. The Fey at least have an excuse, they can't help themselves, but you…" He chuckled. "I think you'd go insane if you'd had to work with what I have."

"Not all mages lack the manners required of their station," Sella replied.

Tony laughed at that. "I'd say you won a point there, if Harry cared one bit about high society approval or of the secrecy of mages. For crying out loud he advertised in the phone book and has been on TV talk shows as an openly practicing wizard."

Sella gave the two of them an utterly shocked look and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Seriously," he said. "You mages focus way too much on trying to keep a lid on this stuff. Give them half an excuse, and any normal will rationalize the strangest things. I once looked into a rain of toads, and the weather report on the event claimed that a windstorm had swept the toads up from Louisiana and dropped them in Chicago." He shook his head. "You'd think 'It's magic' would be easier to swallow."

"Are you serious?" Shirou asked, as he and Link finished cooking.

"He is," Tony replied. "I've read that book. It's true. The whole idea behind the Association and the hiding of magic is a holdout from the Middle Ages." Then he grimaced. "Unfortunately, it's also reinforced some… unsavory behaviors in mages. It's why we don't associate with them very often. Although I've heard of an El-Melloi whose working at breaking some of those habits."

Sella looked completely indignant.

"So," Sinon asked, before Sella could work up to replying. "Do we have any kind of plan for today?"

"We're going to need to find Lancer, at some point," Rin said.

"But that's not going to be very likely during the day," Tony replied. "He's been too clever for that. If he's been active at all, then it's only been at night, and where none of us have been able to locate him."

"So poking around in the daylight almost useless," Sinon said.

"Lancer's not going anywhere," Link said. "And he has to come to us if he has any hope of winning this War. Considering everything that has been going on, it might be best if we take a small break."

"Can we afford that?" Saber asked.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't be prepared," Link countered. "But if we can't do anything to bring the War to a close, then we have little choice but to hold out and wait for better circumstances. We can get a little rest while that happens." Then he smiled and glanced at Illya. "Besides, I think Illya wants to indulge and have the day off."

Harry smiled as well, though his was more paternal than Link's had been. "I think that might be a good idea."

They all separated into their own activities, swapping members casually. Link, Saber, and Shirou had an extended sparring session, with a visit from Pyrrha for some variety. After that was finished, Shirou played with Illya, who only seemed to get more active as the day went on.

Harry and Rin worked in their workshop, interrupted by Tony once or twice.

Sinon chose spend a large portion of her time reading, and occasionally speaking with Shirou about archery. She also pulled Saber away from training for a private conversation. Later, neither of them would share what they had talked about.

Pyrrha and Sakura disappeared to do something by themselves for most of the morning before they returned and Sakura joined Harry and Rin.

All things considered, the day passed like it might on a holiday. Nothing of consequence happened.

As evening came, Pyrrha volunteered to make a run for some groceries so that they would have enough for tomorrow. When Sakura asked to come with her, Pyrrha smiled and told her to relax and spend the time resting. Even though Lash had been able to safely remove the worms from her body, rest would make any damage heal more rapidly.

She told them not to wait for her, since she planned on walking around for a little while before coming back.

"And if Lancer shows up?" Sinon asked.

Pyrrha shook her head. "If my opposite wants to fight, I don't plan on obliging him. I'll send out a call and keep him on the defense. I promise."

* * *

It was on her way back from the shopping district that it happened.

The sun had completely set and Pyrrha was walking back to the house, lost in old memories and hopes when something it the atmosphere around her subtly shifted. The air felt slightly off and she sensed the touch of a simple bounded field forming in the area.

Pyrrha felt pressure against her back and she stopped walking. She turned and watched as a tall man with golden blond hair made his way down the street and stopped. The man wore dark pants, tailored to him as well as a crisp white shirt and a designer black jacket. His shoes shone with light form the nearby street lamps.

Her emerald eyes locked onto his slitted red ones. Lethal intent filled the air like a thick fog and Pyrrha found herself growing tense.

"You're not Lancer," she said.

The man sneered. "That mongrel is nowhere even close to my level. Compare me to that pretender of a hero again, and I'll cut you down, little girl."  
Pyrrha widened her stance and glanced down at the spacing between them. "So why are you standing there looking for a fight, mystery Servant?" she asked, dropping the bag she held in one hand. It fell to the ground with a thump and laid there, completely forgotten.

"Because the others failed to do their job of taking out the trash," the man replied. "So the task has regrettably fallen onto me. Congratulations, little girl. You have come under the scrutiny of those infinitely your superior. It's time for you to die."

Pyrrha's armor and weapons replaced her casual clothing in the blink of an eye and she watched the mysterious Servant, watching for his first move.

 _Sakura,_ Pyrrha sent with her mind. _Send out help now. I'll hold him off._

"I don't know who you are, but I think you'll find that I'm not so easily gotten rid of," she said aloud.

The man let out a dismissive sound and snapped his fingers. Golden light shone from behind him and several weapons shot through the air toward Pyrrha at the speed of bullets.

Pyrrha dodged and weaved around the projectiles like a dancer, using her spear and shield to assist in knocking the weapons off course and shielding her from harm.

The collection of spears, swords, and axes never truly touched her, and slammed themselves into the ground behind and around her, spraying dust and debris around.

The man's mocking smile never faltered. "Oh," he said. "So we have a Servant who thinks she can dodge. Let's see just how good you really are, little girl."

More points of golden light began to shine from behind him and another barrage of weapons flew through the air at her.

Pyrrha didn't waste time standing around and playing defensively. For whatever reason, this was a Servant that they hadn't counted on encountering, and it was doubtful that he was planning on retreating. What was worse, was that Sakura hadn't sent her any kind of reply.

She tried calling out with her mind, just like she had done several times before, but something was wrong.

She could hear the mental calls she was sending, but the words seemed distorted somehow. As if something was creating interference.

So, Pyrrha evaded the bombardment and charged toward the unknown Servant, dodging and blocking whatever weapons she could, and slightly adjusting the courses of those she couldn't so that they barely missed her. Instinct warned her not to reveal her powers to this man unless there wasn't any other choice.

The closer Pyrrha got to the unknown Servant, the more weapons rained down and around her. The barrage became so intense that Pyrrha was forced to leap back and land where she'd started.

The man laughed as his attack died down. "I must say, that was truly a marvelous display, little girl. You might even be able to provide me with a modicum of entertainment."

Pyrrha spun her spear and fired a short burst of bullets at the Servant before charging forward once again.

A pair of elaborate and large swords dropped from golden portals, blocking the bullets and the Servant scoffed. "How quaint," he commented. He snapped his fingers once again and the barrage resumed.

 _I don't have a choice,_ Pyrrha thought. _Whenever I get too close, he makes sure I can't move forward or around him._

Pyrrha began to dodge the barrage as she tried to press forward. Then she reached out with her Semblance, the only power of hers that the Grail could classify as her Noble Phantasm, and shen spun the weapons in the air and fired them back at their owner.

The Servant's eyes widened with surprise as a pair of spears spun and shot themselves back at him, Pyrrha charging right beside them. The spears created a buffer in the waves of weapons cascading down and around her, which bought Pyrrha just enough time to close the distance on the Servant and launch an attack of her own.

Pyrrha thrust her own spear at the Servant and forced him to dodge and back away. Pyrrha followed and tried to press her advantage, spinning and thrusting her spear at his exposed neck and unarmored body.

The Servant kicked away from her and, before she could move to follow, swords rained from the sky above her and forced her to retreat.

"My my, little girl," the Servant said, a touch of bemused annoyance in his voice. "It seems that someone still has not yet learned their place. And what, I wonder, was that trick you performed just a moment ago?" A truly massive number of portals opened behind and around him as he spoke. "I wonder just what it might be, indeed. Let's see if you'll show it to me one more time. Perhaps it's your Noble Phantasm?"

Pyrrha kept her face even and chose not to answer. "You're an Archer," she said instead. "Instead of using a bow, you fire weapons at the speed of bullets, achieving a similar effect as a bowman or a gunman."

She glanced at the weapons protruding from the portals. _Every single one of them is unique_ , she thought.

The Servant noticed. "So you're admiring my treasures," he said. "Then I shall permit you to have a closer look, little girl."

The the bombardment started up once again.

For the second time, ever, Pyrrha Nikos cut loose. This wasn't the first time she'd faced an opponent who'd used multiple weapons at once in a manner not dissimilar to this Servant. Granted, Penny's swords had all been the same, not unique weapons, and this Servant used them differently, but the similarities were there, and the obvious counter to the attack was the same.

Pyrrha let out a breath as the weapons rained down around her, then she reached out with her Semblance and grabbed the weapons with her will and redirected their trajectories.

Most of the weapons simply fell around her as she moved forward once again, but others swerved and launched themselves toward their owner, effectively giving him a taste of his own medicine.

"What?" the Servant asked as more portals opened, dropping a wall of swords to intercept the redirected weapons.

Pyrrha smiled and ripped the swords from the ground in front of him just before the weapons she'd taken could reach it. The Servant had no choice but to leap out of the way of his own weapons and Pyrrha shot after him, slashing and thrusting her own spear.

The mystery Servant fired more weapons down at her, but the swords and spears he used earlier rose from the ground and blasted into the ones he tried to drop on her.

Pyrrha leapt to dodge one sword falling toward her and sent herself into a leaping spin that allowed her to dodge a second sword and to slash her spear straight at the mystery Servant.

The steel of her spear was met with a set of golden armor that appeared around the Servant before it could reach his clothing or skin.

She landed from her leap and immediately went into a dodge as more and more weapons rained down on her and finally forced her away from him.

The arrogant confidence had finally left the mystery Servant demeanor, replaced by absolute fury.

"You dare take my treasures and try to use them against me?!" he shouted. "You dare try to mark my glorious visage?! You shall pay for your impudence with your life!"

Pyrrha simply smiled at him. "Try as you might, Archer, the more you fight against me, the more powerful my attacks will become. You, yourself, are your own undoing." She spun her spear and shield into a ready position. "Shall we have another round?"

The archer seethed before her until he seemed able to compose himself. Then a vicious smile spread across his face. "You must think me as some sort of fool, cheater. I will make sure your death is truly agonizing."

More portals appeared and Pyrrha didn't even bother playing fair. She reached out with her Semblance and ripped a light pole from the ground and hurled it at his back as he unleashed another barrage and she leapt forward in another attack.

The mystery Servant either heard or sensed the sneak attack coming, because several weapons dropped from the sky and tore the light pole apart. The debris that his counter created kept moving toward him and started striking into his armor, which stayed unmarked.

The weapons he dropped toward her immediately lost their flight paths and either missed her as they landed, or ran into each other and went spinning away from the battle. Pyrrha closed the distance on him in the blink of an eye and attacked in a flurry of thrusts, spins, and slashes

She reached out with her Semblance and fired a pair of the fallen weapons at him from either side as he tried to fall back. The Servant growled and counted the attack with another pair of weapons he fired out of portals.

Pyrrha hounded him relentlessly, never giving the Servant a moment to rest or gain ground. The Servant growled as he evaded another thrust from Pyrrha and dropped a pair of heavy hammers directly down toward her and Pyrrha leapt away from him before they could strike her.

The Servant's eyes narrowed. "I see," he said. "So there is a limit to what you can steal, cheater. You can only affect weapons that have metal in them."

Pyrrha didn't answer him.

The Servant let out a sound of disgust. "I can't believe I have to resort to this sort of stratagem. You will pay dearly for this, cheater."

He waved his hand the weapons that lay scattered around disappeared into golden sparks and more portals opened behind and around him. More weapons began to emerge and Pyrrha felt a small wave of fear.

The Servant had finally figured out how her Semblance worked. The most powerful weapons were ones made of iron or steel, metals that could last against the hard stress of battle, but that didn't mean that weapons of other materials didn't exist.

What started to exit those portals were exotic weapons of wood, stone, crystal, and other non-metallic materials.

His discovery had helped give him a greater advantage, but that didn't mean she still couldn't beat him.

Pyrrha reached out with her Semblance, the incredible power she had been born with, and touched upon the city around her. A city made by man, a city made with metal.

If this mystery Archer was going to unleash a barrage at her, then she needed one of equal or greater volume. The Church was going to have a hell of a time explaining this.

Weapons rained from the sky one more time and Pyrrha ripped every scrap of metal she could reach to use in her counter. Lamp posts, benches, vending machines and their contents, even pipes buried in the ground below her.

Pyrrha spun her improvised armory through the air, deflecting, redirecting, and blocking every single attack that she could as she charged toward the Servant in another attack.

The vortex of flying metal was able to do its job, but none of the items Pyrrha brought to bear could even come close to withstanding the onslaught of weapons as powerful as the ones the mystery Archer could bring to bear. Her improvised armory was torn to shreds as she reached the Servant.

The Archer dodged nimbly and redirected his fire back toward Pyrrha, forcing her to end her attack and act defensively once again.

The onslaught was never ending and Pyrrha, through simple exhaustion, was starting to make mistakes. Without the use of her Semblance to even the odds, the Archer had complete control of the battle, and unless she was willing to drop a building on top of him, there was nothing else she could bring to bear.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," she whispered and launched herself into the barrage, bringing every scrap of metal she could find with her. The debris around her formed a solid barrier to try and stop the storm of hammers, daggers, and other exotic weapons that rained down on her.

The barrage ripped her shield apart and Pyrrha hurled her spear toward the Servant, discharging it and pushing it with her Semblance to give it the most power possible. By some miracle, Milo passed through the rain of weapons and reached its target.

Pyrrha was able to see her spear impact on the Servant's armor and drop to the ground before she was buried under a wave of falling weapons.

Sakura's eyes went wide and she spun to face one of the walls of the living room. Then, she felt it, like a sharp knife tearing through a string, she felt the connection she shared with her Servant snap. Her shoulders slumped and she was barely able to hold back tears.

She'd only been able to catch a glimpse of what had happened, and the one detail she'd been able to grab hold of scared her. For just that instant, she'd seen a man wearing golden armor. The man she'd met once already, just outside of her house.

Grief over the loss of someone who had been able to act as a guardian and sister to her made her steps blind as she made her way to someone who might be able to help.

Her hand made a light knocking sound on the door to the room she found herself at.

"Come in," came the reply.

Sakura entered.

"Sakura?" Rin asked, looking at her sister. "What's wrong?"

"It's Pyrrha," she answered. She couldn't say anything more.

Rin came to her without a word and pulled her into a tight hug.

* * *

 **Author's note: Archer takes Lancer. It always important to remember that the game isn't over until it's over. This is also the first time where I could really let Pyrrha completely cut loose. Writing this battle was quite eye-opening for me, because I never had an appreciation for just how** _ **obnoxious**_ **it was to fight against Gil until I wrote this out. It's one thing to see it, it's quite another to try and think of ways to get around it.  
And, hey, we had some levity in this chapter. Illya gets to act like a little kid and everyone gets a little R&R.**

 **KiroZen: Maybe. Now you have me thinking about how that would even work. Still, I can't think of much else that's more effective than the Master Sword on a being that's almost completely pure evil.**

 **1eragon33: Yes, the worm is dead, shriveled up, and burning in Hell where he belongs.  
… Let's see, how do I phrase this? Let's just stick with my favorite Kelsier quote: There's always another secret. The trick is to never stop looking.**

 **Hero of Justice Roxas: Oh, Shirou and Link are hugely compatible and, as a consequence, they'd work well together in any sort of crossover. And, don't worry, I don't plan on leaving Fate/Fantasy just yet. There's plenty of stuff in the works.**

 **Twin Fangs of Chaotic Insight: I just finished beating my brother up one side and down the other for forgetting that line. He's a HUGE LoZ nerd and he never once suggested that. True, it is cheesy and overly memed, which is enough to let it pass, but it's still perfect for author's note humor.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me, and they really are helping me stay strong.  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	77. Chapter 76

**Chapter 76**

 _Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that._ -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Shirou's eyes flew open as he heard someone enter his room. Based on the light coming in, it was almost time to wake up anyway.

"Shirou," Link said as he rose to an upright position. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" he asked, his drowsiness leaving him instantly.

"It's Illya," he said. "She hasn't woken up yet, and she's burning up."

* * *

"If I had to guess," Harry said as he and Rin entered the living room. "I'd say she's suffering from having too much power."

"Too much power?" Sinon asked. "What do you mean?"

"She's just about hit her limit for the amount of magical energy she can contain," Rin said.

"We've been looking at the Grail situation from the wrong angle," Harry said. "Illya herself told us that the Greater Grail can only take in energy from the lesser Grail. What she failed to tell us is that _she_ was the lesser Grail. Servants power the Grail in order to let it function, but that energy has to be stored somewhere, and there's no such thing as a container without an upper limit. Think of her… as a bottle of soda. For every Servant that's killed, a mentos is dropped into the bottle and the cap is closed. Do that so many times and eventually the bottle simply explodes with the sheer pressure that's building inside of it. Optimally, when the Greater Grail is ready, it opens the cap on the bottle and takes in all that power in one big burst."

"And that's what's happening to Illya?" Shirou asked.

"Harry's making it sound much worse than it is," Rin clarified. "But once Illya hits her limit, her body is going to have to start discarding whatever it can in order to fulfill its function."

"Meaning she'll die first," Tony said.

"It's a distinct possibility," Harry confirmed. "Sella and Leysritt don't seem that surprised, so they obviously knew this would happen. Maybe the Einzbern have something in place for this. They certainly expected to win this war, given the Servants Illya was using."

Tony snorted. "The Einzbern don't give a damn about her, Dresden. Whatever they have in place will be a stopgap, and nothing more than enough to get what they want."

"And it would also explain Illya behavior yesterday," Sinon added. "If she knew this was going to happen, then she might have decided it was better to have fun before she started to shut down."

Shirou clenched his hands in frustration.

"Getting angry isn't going to help anything, Emiya," Sinon told him. "We can only handle so much at a time." She turned her gaze to Rin and Harry. "How long do you think she has?"

"Illya's strong," Harry answered. "I don't think she'll break down anytime soon. But the longer the War goes on and the more Servants that are taken out are only going to make it happen faster. I'll talk with Bob and see if we can find a way to stabilize Illya. Maybe we can find a way to divert the energy into something else. The last thing I want is that much power flying to whatever is inside the Grail."

"Besides, we have another problem," Rin said.

Sakura nodded. "Someone took out Pyrrha last night," she said. "I have no idea who it was. All I know was it was a man wearing gold armor."

Saber's eyes narrowed.

"Is something wrong, Saber?" Shirou asked.

"No," she answered. "It's nothing."

"But what Servant was it?" Rin asked. "The only one we have left to deal with is Lancer. And he hasn't shown up at all for days."

"And why didn't she call for help?" Sinon asked. "If she was overpowered to the point of death, then she should have sent out a call." She glanced at Sakura. "Did you hear anything from her before she disappeared?"

Sakura shook her head. "I was only able to to feel her for a moment. And it wasn't very clear."

"Interference?" Harry asked. "Is that even possible? Stopping the mental communication between Master and Servant?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Tony said. "That doesn't mean it's impossible, just that I don't know it. We're missing something here."

"Or something's in play that we couldn't have known about," Sinon added. She met her Master's eyes. "Do you think we could bait him out?"

Tony nodded. "Probably," he said. "You and I would make a good target." He nodded. "We get Lancer, or whoever this gold guy is, out and then we could drop your Marble on him if things get too hairy."

"Okay, so that's our plan for today," Sinon agreed. Her gaze flicked around. "Dresden's going to be working with Illya. It'll be best if Sakura stays away from the fighting as well. Rin?"

"I think I should go out and see what I can find on Lancer's Master," she said. "If we can't find Lancer, we might be able to come at him from that angle."

"Emiya?"

Shirou thought for a moment. "There's nothing that I can think of," he admitted. "I suppose I can head out and help you cover more ground. With more of us searching, the odds of us finding Lancer or his Master will be higher."

"Actually," Saber said, and then she fell silent. Shirou turned to face her and blinked when he saw that Saber was blushing furiously. "Since, well," she said and then fell silent.

Now everyone was looking at Saber and her blush became far more pronounced.

"I was wondering if, maybe, while everyone else is busy if we might…" Saber fell silent again and her gaze shot to Rin and Dresden, casting a silent appeal.

Harry blinked at her with false innocence, the twinkling in his eyes revealing that he knew exactly what she wanted. Saber glared at him and Harry only smiled in reply.

Then he looked back to Shirou. "I was wondering," she said, trying to make her voice sound more confident. "If we could go out today, while everyone else is busy."

Shirou froze. Did Saber just…?

He felt heat rising up his cheeks as the idea began to sink and his brain began to fry. He quickly steeled himself against the shut down and forced his brain to start working.

Saber watched him, waiting for his answer. It was obvious that his answer was going to mean something to her and he couldn't afford to have his words fall short.

"Yeah, sure," he answered, lamely. He immediately began kicking himself for how stupid his reply sounded.

Saber simply smiled in reply.

"I guess that means Sakura and I are on house duty today," Link said, leaning back with his hands behind his head. "We'll make sure there isn't a repeat of the last time you two went out."

* * *

They rode the bus to New City, as they had on their first date. Shirou had assumed that the second date would be less tense than the first. He was completely wrong. If anything, he was more nervous this bus ride than he had been on the first.

He kept his gaze pointed out the window as he tried to get his emotions in check. Saber had asked _him_ out on a date. Part of him soared that Saber had grown enough to be willing to go that far. That part of him also told him that, because of that fact, there was an even greater chance of ruining what they had. And that fact terrified the rest of him.

He felt pressure on his back and he turned to see Saber trying to watch him out of the corner of her eye. She looked composed, as she always did, but there was the slightest amount of tension in her shoulders.

She was nervous, maybe more nervous than he was.

For a moment he was shocked by the fact that Saber would be nervous about this, until the pieces fell into place in his mind.

She had taken the initiative this time, and she probably had a plan in place for this date. If anything went wrong, she would blame herself for the error, even if she couldn't have seen or controlled it.

Shirou met her sidelong gaze and smiled, his own nerves fading away.

No matter what happened, he decided, he would make absolutely sure that he would make Saber smile and enjoy this date.

As the bus pulled into the station and they started to disembark, Saber's posture become irresolute, unwilling to surrender or accept defeat. Her eyes shone brightly as she gripped his hand and led him into the city toward whatever she had planned.

* * *

The first couple of hours of the date, Saber took him all over the place in what he was sure was a deliberate echo of their first date.

She took him for some coffee and then to a bookstore. They sat together in a park as Saber tried to make polite conversation. She all but dragged him from location to location with some of the same desperation that he'd had on their first outing.

As it neared lunch, Shirou finally asked: "Saber, don't you have a plan?"

They came to a stop. "I don't really know how to do this," she admitted. "For the first part, I thought that taking you around would be fine, like we did on our first date." She glanced at him. "Are you not happy?"

Shirou smiled to try and dispel her concern. "I'm just a little worried that you're trying to copy me. I didn't have much of a plan for our first date."

"I know," she said. "And you still need to learn how to plan things out more, Shirou." She smiled at him and Shirou felt something flutter in his stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. "But, yes, I do have a plan." She took his hand once again and led him further into the city.

Saber led him into the tourist district, which surprised him. He was even more surprised when she led him to a steakhouse restaurant.

Things became clearer once they went inside.

"Saber," he said. "Did Tony put you up to this?"

"Do you not like it?" she asked. Her eyes flickered with worry that she couldn't quite hide.

"It's not that I don't like it," he said quickly. "It's just… not something I'm used to."

Shirou glanced at the teppanyaki grills and the chefs that manned them, spinning their knives and doing tricks for crowds of tourists sitting around them. His observation caught the gaze of a nearby cook who wasn't doing anything and he made his way over to them.

"Hey there," the cook said, greeting Shirou with a smile. "Are you the kid I was told about?"

"I-" Shirou said and then hesitated for a half moment. "What do you mean, told about?"

"I was asked to show someone the ropes on how to do this," the cook replied. "You're him, right? You match the description I was given."

When Shirou continued to hesitate, Saber pulled him aside.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes shining with concern.

Shirou composed himself. "This just isn't something I'm used to," he told her. "I've never been one for showing off or performing." As he spoke he saw one of the chefs building and then taking apart a volcano made of onion rings.

Saber seemed to shrink into herself and Shirou realized that that wasn't what she had wanted to hear.

He thought desperately, trying to dig himself out of the hole he was making. He tried to come at the situation from Saber's perspective.

"Is this something you really want me to try?" he asked.

Saber didn't answer right away. "Shirou," she finally said. "When we first went out, you wanted me to enjoy myself." She glanced away from him. "And I was thinking about that, and I realized that you don't do much on your own. Your room is empty and you spend much of your time tinkering in the shed. So, I thought that, maybe, you should try to branch out a little more. Find something you could make more of a hobby." Her gaze shifted toward the resauntrant around them. "And then Barnett mentioned this place and I thought that it would be a good place to start. Something you were familiar with, but different at the same time." Her eyes finally returned to Shirou's. "I thought that maybe I could help you, my Knight. Like you tried to help me."

Warmth flowed through Shirou at the look on Saber's face, and the honesty with which she spoke.

He acted impulsively and wrapped his arms around her. Saber's breathing stopped with surprise before she returned the embrace and they simply stood there for a moment. They pulled away at the same time.

"I'll try, my King," he said and returned to the cook.

"Okay," he said. "Let's get started."

* * *

-Interlude-

Sinon sat on the bench, her eyes closed and her expression calm. Tony stood near her, his face a neutral mask.

They'd spent the better part of the day making certain that they'd be prepared for anything that could happen, making sure that no one would be nearby and preparing countermeasures, both magical and mundane. Now, as evening came upon them, they prepared themselves and waited to see if their challenge would be answered.

The setting was as perfect as it was going to get. They were stationed near the burned out park where no one would be around. It was an obvious location for a trap, especially since he'd used it as one once already, but if this mystery Servant had taken Pyrrha out, he might not care about whatever threat Sinon posed.

They were both armed to the teeth and ready for any kind of violence that might fall onto them. Whether Lancer or this other Servant appeared, they were ready.

Sinon opened her eyes and rose smoothly to her feet, turning as she did. Tony turned with her and they both saw the golden haired man in the designer clothes.

The man smiled with cheerful condescension as he eyed them.

"You look like you're waiting for someone," he said. "Haven't you heard that it's dangerous to go out at night?"

Tony smirked. "Yet here you are, all alone."

The man sneered. "I have nothing to fear from any mongrel that walks this tarnished garden of mine. Not even the supposed heroes that are currently here can match my own power."

"Which is the only reason why you bothered to show up," Tony answered.

The man gave Tony and Sinon a bored and haughty look. "I came to clean up the mess. This game has been fun to watch, but with so many of you pretenders still here, I find myself growing bored with it all." He eyed Sinon. "So what can this little doll do, I wonder? The last one was quite the little cheater. What interesting powers might you have to keep me entertained?"

"You're an Archer," she said, not rising to the bait.

"How interesting," he replied. "And I do believe you claim that title as well."

Sinon did not smile or give any acknowledgement with her expression. Her eyes, however, became glacial.

"Look, Archer," Tony said. "Getting into a fight isn't the best move right now. Since you're here, we might as well try to have a talk. There's no use in trying to achieve the Grail. It's been corrupted by something else. Whatever your wish is: power, a second chance, immortality, ownership of your favorite bar, whatever it is, it won't come out the way you think. I suggest you back down until we can get this mess sorted out. Powering the Grail now is only going to make this more difficult."

The blond Servant smiled dismissively. "The Grail?" the archer asked, as if Tony's words had meant absolutely nothing at all. "Oh, immortality. I gave that to the snake."

Sinon blinked. "A snake?" she murmured, her eyes locking onto the Servant's slitted eyes.

"Gilgamesh," Tony said as his eyes went wide with alarm and, following his suddenly screaming instincts, he trust his hand out and declared: "By my Command Seal: Sinon, engage your Noble Phantasm with all of your power. Destroy him! Now!"

Mana surged into the world as Tony's Command Seals flashed with blue light and faded into near invisibility. The world twisted around the two Servants and they vanished as the Bullet of Bullets Reality Marble deployed and trapped them within its boundary.

Tony barely wasted the time to even breathe as he pulled out a collection of magnesium spikes from a pocket and began driving them into the ground around where Gilgamesh had been standing.

He had every confidence in Sinon's combat ability, especially within her Reality Marble, but, even with such a huge advantage, it might not be enough to kill the Babylonian King.

Not all Heroic Spirits were created equal, and the qualities the highest tier heroes were surprisingly easy to identify when looked at as Servants.

The most obvious method to have a powerful Servant was to summon a figure with a widely established legend, which was why so many Masters of Grail Wars summoned Greco-Roman heroes. Their feats were very firmly established and their legends spread wide throughout the world.

Another method was to become extremely focused. A Heroic Spirit's power was directly connected to how wide-spread their legend was, but, the reverse was also true. If you summoned a hero who had a powerful connection to the land they were battling in, then they received a boost that was directly proportional to that localized fame.

Assassin was a prime example of this. The Guardian of the Temple had been able to hold off a Heroic Spirit as well known and powerful as King Arthur. The samurai's power had been given a boost by the ancestral homeland he was surrounded by. Tony secretly thought that that might have been why Sinon was so powerful. Her status as a Secondary Servant made the fame of her legend tricky to measure, but she was Japanese by birth, which meant, on some small level, she had to share at least a little of the boost Assassin did.

The third option was simple age. Like a fine wine, Heroic Spirits only grew more powerful with age, so long as their legends didn't disappear completely. The age their stories gained added a level of spiritual mass to the Hero's power that was difficult to argue with. Add that on top of fame and the resulting Servant would be terrible in its strength.

The golden archer's legend wouldn't have as much grounding in the island nation of Japan, but there wasn't a single legend older than the King Gilgamesh, the first epic hero. And it was entirely possible that that boost would be simply too powerful to overcome.

Given the personality displayed within that legend, it was also likely to be impossible to negotiate with him. Gilgamesh did things his way and nothing stood in his path. The only thing that had, in fact, was Enkidu, who had been literally created to counter the Babylonian King.

"Plan for the worst and pray for the best," Tony muttered as he finished planting the spikes and pulled out a jar of metal paste. He began spreading it out on the ground in a circle to connect all of the spikes and a five pointed star centered inside the circle.

He pitched the empty jar aside and took several steps back before he began to chant in Greek, quickly building a bounded field in the area he'd designated.

The field wasn't a perfect one when it came to set up, but it would have to do with the limited time constraint he was under. The trick with a reality Marble was the way it could influence the flow of time. Such Marbles were limited term separate realties where the laws of nature were determined by the caster, not the natural world. Time would last longer within Sinon's Bullet of Bullet's, but it still wouldn't give him enough to work leisurely, especially if Gilgamesh proved to be more capable than Tony already feared he was.

 _Thank the Lord for the 60 second load time in the field,_ Tony thought. _Even if Sinon is killed, if she can deal enough damage while he's in there, I might be able to finish him off._

Tony let out a quick huff and began to form a small, bright white ball of fire he'd use to start the conflagration. The blood vessels of his body that weren't hidden away by his clothing burst into silver light as the spell was engaged.

Seconds after he finished his preparations, he felt a searing pain on the back of his right hand, where his Command Seals were located.

Sinon, despite every advantage he'd tried to give her, had been killed.

There was a shattering sound and Gilgamesh, now wearing golden armor, reappeared, standing directly in the center of the bounded field Tony had finished establishing. The King of Heroes didn't even glance down at the circle and pentacle that was now around him. All he did was look at Tony with mildly irritated contempt.

"That was slightly intriguing," he commented. "These pretenders to fame simply can't seem to do anything without attempting to undermine my rights as the true King. Are there any other tricks you'd like to add after your little doll's attempt to keep me away from what I rightfully possess?"

Tony snarled at the man as he allowed the small marble of compressed fire to shoot from his hand and ignite the thermite circle he had painted on the ground. As the bright white of magnesium and thermite fire filled the air, Tony poured his mana into the Incineration field as he shouted his defiance at the one true king.

" _Thrice I knock upon the Threshold and open the Gates of Hell!"_

-Interlude out-

* * *

They left the steakhouse after the sun had set. Despite his reservations about performing while cooking, Shirou was forced to admit that there was some real skill involved.

He also realized that he had a talent with working with the knives in the manner that the chef had shown him. Much like how he'd slowly absorbed Archer's fighting style, the skills of the chefs around him seemed to flow into him and slowly become his own. While it wasn't the phantom reflexes and understanding that Archer's experiences had been, he had started gaining skill far faster than he or his teacher had expected.

By the end of the day, he'd been flipping knives and performing with the reflexes of a much more experienced steakhouse chef, and his own practice at cooking had helped him make the meals well without being too distracted by learning the performance aspect of the position.

He'd gotten so unconsciously into the performance that he'd made Saber start laughing with joy. That sight had almost made him fumble everything he'd been doing, which made Saber both laugh harder and become worried.

"Did you have fun today?" Saber asked as they walked, holding each other's hands as they moved down the street.

"Yes," Shirou admitted. "It was strange, but fun. I don't think I'm going to be doing it much at home, though."

Saber smiled. "I'm glad," she said and turned her gaze upward toward the night sky.

Her smile vanished and they both stopped moving as they saw an enormous pillar of fire soar up into the night sky with a roar. The pleasant atmosphere surrounding them shattered as they stared at the pyromantic display. Then they ran.

* * *

 **Author's note: We just can't ever seem to have nice things, can we? 8/15 Servants down. Wow, seriously, there are 7 still kicking? It really has felt like there have been less than that. Damn. Well, that aside, I think we're just about through with levity for a while. It's time to end this War.  
** **Also, Happy Easter, everyone! It's kind of a shame Kirei isn't in this chapter, I would've found that amusing.**

 **Lord of Memory: It certainly seemed appropriate as I was writing it. Pyrrha has had a really bad run of it through this story on top of the tragedy that does seem to befall Lancers.**

 **KiroZen: I'm sorry!**

 **Lord Jaric: I believe you now have an answer to your question. :) And stuff is about to go down now.**

 **Hero of Justice Roxas: Well, Gil's got to keep it interesting, doesn't he? And, don't worry, there some payback coming, and from a couple of different sources.  
Yeah, sorry about that, but Archer had to get axe at some point, but this Shirou's going to have a much better time dealing with 'ole Gil. I think you'll like the next chapter.  
As for the Master Sword, I advise you to take a gander at my profile, where the stats of the Secondary Servants are located. But, to quickly answer: No, the Master Sword isn't even close to being able to stop Ea. The problem with an EX Noble Phantasm is that its power can't be measured,which is why it is EX. It would take something of similar power to stop that ancient weapon.**

 **1eragon33: Gil is a true pain in the ass. What's amazing is that he's not really any better in his original story, personality-wise. King Gilgamesh was just as much of an arrogant pain in the ass when he was alive, too. As for the Gate, I actually find it really cool, if really hard to write a battle against. The asshole always converts any battle into a head-on charge against his barrage and that makes it really hard to get creative, which is probably the point.**

 **SentinalSlice: Wow. I honestly wasn't expecting that. There's certainly nothing wrong with loving the character, I just was not expecting actual applause. I actually haven't seen any Carnival Phantasm, but I have gone through Hollow/Ataraxia, so if he's anything like Little Gil, then I can get where you're coming from.**

 **Genesis09: I** _ **immensely**_ **enjoyed writing that fight. As annoying as it is to write a battle against Gil, I had a lot of fun using Pyrrha for it, and I'm really happy that you've been enjoying yourself.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me, and they really are helping me stay strong.  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	78. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77**

 _Our world is one of balance... Just as there is light to drive away darkness, so, too, is there benevolence to banish evil._ \- Zelda, Twilight Princess

Saber and Shirou ran toward the burned out park as fast as they could. Saber's armor flashed into being as they ran and Shirou projected Kanshou and Bakuya on the move.

Neither of them spoke as they ran. They didn't need to.

If Tony was unleashing that much elemental destruction that could only mean that something had gone horribly wrong. Shirou cursed to himself for their entire run. He and Saber had been out having fun while Barnett had been in battle for who knew how long. He shouldn't have gotten so wrapped up in his day. If he and Saber had left earlier they might have been in a position to help sooner.

As they reached the park, Saber slid to a stop, her eyes wide with recognition.

A man with golden hair and wearing golden armor stood over Tony, his lips stretched in a sneer. Tony himself was sprawled on the ground, a sword stabbed through his stomach and pinning him to the ground. There was no sign of Sinon.

Barnett's eyes flicked toward them. "Shirou," he said. "He's-" Then he let out a blistering stream of curses as the golden armored man twisted the sword that was stabbed into him.

"Know your place, mongrel," he told him. "You will remain silent in the presence of someone greater than you. Your punishment will continue once I've dealt with this other matter." Then the Servant fixed his gaze onto Saber and said, almost genially: "It's a pleasure to see you again, Saber. How long has it been? Ten years?"

"Archer," Saber growled. "But how?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the archer replied. "After the last War had drawn to a close, I chose to remain in this world instead of disappearing."

"That's impossible," Saber replied. "When the Grail disappears, we Servants lose our anchor to the world. It's not possible for you to remain in this world for ten years after the Grail disappeared."

"That's simply not true," the archer replied. "Even without the Holy Grail, we can stay in this world as long as a mage continues to give us mana. Of course, without the Grail's assistance, an incredible amount of mana is needed. But, there are any number of other ways to gain such a resource."

"You fed on human souls?" Shirou growled, anger starting to burn in his chest.

The archer's red, serpentine eyes flicked toward Shirou for an instant. "I would watch your tongue, mongrel. If you speak out one more time, I shall crush you like the insignificant bug that you are." He turned his gaze back to Saber. "But to answer your question, I did indeed. Not that my Master needed to go through all that trouble, since I am the only Servant to have bathed in the water of the Holy Grail, thanks to your efforts in the last War, Saber. You helped give me a physical form when you destroyed the Holy Grail. A fitting gift from my future bride."

"The Holy Grail is cursed, Archer," Saber said. "Something has gotten inside and corrupted it. It is not what it seems."

"I know," the man answered.

Saber and Shirou let out gasps of surprise. Even Tony's pained eyes went wide at the declaration.

"I got a glimpse of what lay within the Grail as its contents were strewn onto me," the archer continued. "I understand the true power and purpose behind the Holy Grail. And I decided in that moment that I, or those I appoint, shall be only ones to wield the Holy Grail."

"Wield the Holy Grail?" Saber asked, not bothering to hide her scorn. "You jest."

"Not at all. It is the ritual that summons the Grail that's a sick joke. Do you know what the Grail's true purpose is? It is simply a container meant to hold magical energy. The Grail does not truly grant wishes, but simply holds power. Do you understand, Saber? The mages who made the Holy Grail could not fill it with pure enough mana to use, so they had to create something that could. And since they could not fill it, they needed to find the purest mana they could so that the Grail could be deployed."

Saber stared at the archer and Shirou spoke what they were all thinking. "It's a weapon," he breathed. "Like a bow. It needs power to be pulled and then fired. _That's_ what this whole war has been about? To charge the Greater Grail with the power of heroic spirits so that it can be used?"

The man turned his gaze back onto Shirou. "I believed I warned you about speaking out." He lifted one hand and snapped his fingers. A sword fired at Shirou so fast that it left nothing more than a red line in the air.

Reflex took over and Shirou spun his twin swords up and into a guard position at the last second. His blades shattered with the force of the impact and the weapon that had been fired toward him clattered to the ground.

Shirou pulled the trigger within himself, but waited before completing his projection. If the Servant was going to fire another weapon, it would be smarter to try and project a defense. He pictured Link's shield in his mind and prepared to unleash it into the world.

Saber adjusted her stance and fixed the archer with a murderous gaze. "Leave him out of this, Archer. I will not allow you to harm him."

"What's this, Saber? Are you letting some sentiment dull that fire of yours?" the archer asked.

In reply, Saber readied her sword. The man smiled.

"Ah," he said. "There she is. There's the lion that's bewitched me. Come on, Saber. Shall we finish the battle we had ten years ago? The one that took place right here?"

"Shirou," Saber said, her voice very low. "Stay back. Don't get too close to him."

"But," Shirou protested.

"Just stay back," she repeated, her voice harder. "You're strong, Shirou. But you're not strong enough to face him. Get Tony out of the way."

Shirou opened his mouth and then closed it. "Alright then," he eventually said. "But if he starts gaining the upper hand, I'm not going to leave you."

Saber smiled. Then she shot forward with a cry and slashed at the mysterious Archer.

The golden man simply smiled as several swords left portals of golden light and formed a defensive web around the Servant. Saber slashed and struck, but the web of swords withheld the attacks and she leapt back to reevaluate.

The Servant stood there, smirking and glanced at the swords that surrounded him. Shirou saw cracks and nicks in the various blades, but he could tell just by looking at them that there wasn't anything special about them. They were simply exquisite in design and craftsmanship.

"Very well done, Saber," the archer said. "You're blade is as sharp as ever."

"Shirou," Saber said, her voice soft. She adjusted her stance to lunge.

Shirou cleared the image he had in his mind and thought about the blades he'd seen inside Archer's Reality Marble. Archer had said that whenever he saw a weapon, a replica was instantly created and placed inside the Marble. Even if he didn't know how to use a Reality Marble, he had to have the same ability.

Shirou pictured several of the simpler blades he'd seen, ones without any inherent powers. The images stacked on top of themselves and separated smoothly. It was surprisingly easy to do.

 _"Trace on,"_ he said and pulled his trigger.

The archer's eyes glanced toward him and narrowed as blades began appearing behind Shirou. The instant the collection of swords formed with flashes of silver light, they shot through the air toward the enemy Servant.

The archer let out a sound of disgust and several portals appeared behind him and fired swords of their own. In the split second that his eyes moved, Saber shot forward with a burst of wind and attacked once again with all of her strength.

Shirou ran as well, off to one side and toward Tony's prone position.

The Archer kicked off from where he was as Saber reached his position. Her strike shattered one of the blades that had formed the defensive web and she turned to follow him.

Shirou felt, more than saw, the archer's counter attack. A flurry of swords fired from gates behind him as he moved and Saber was forced to dodge and block several of them. Several of the swords missed her entirely and went straight toward Shirou and Barnett.

Shirou threw himself into a baseball player's slide and skidded right next to Tony. He quickly projected Link's shield and declared: _**"Shield of Hyrule!"**_

The shield shimmered and became a barrier of pure magical power designed to stop or reflect almost any attack. Shirou wrapped his arms around Tony and lifted him slightly. Then he reached for the sword still sticking out of him.

"Idiot!" Tony snapped. "No! That's not going to stop him. It's Gil-"

 _ **"Gate of Babylon,"**_ the enemy Servant said evenly.

A rapid series of weapons slammed into Shirou's projected barrier and shattered it like it was nothing more than a thin pane of glass. Weapons slammed into Shirou like bullets and he was sent hurtling through the air like a rocket.

He slammed hard onto the ground and barely heard Saber's cry of "Shirou!"

"Know your place, faker," the archer said, disdain coloring every word. Shirou tried to move, but the weapons that were piercing him made it difficult. "That is the weight of the genuine article. Glory in the honor of being held down by weaponry that you could never dream of producing."

Saber stood in a defensive position, watching the archer as more and more weapons began appearing from golden portals behind him. Shirou starred as well, realizing that he was looking at a horde of Noble Phantasms, not simple weapons, as he had earlier.

"No heroic spirit holds so many Noble Phantasms," Saber said.

"Don't be so sure," the archer said. "In the beginnings of history, the world was once united as one and all of its treasures were bestowed upon just one king."

"Gilgamesh," Tony groaned.

Saber's eyes went wide with recognition and she began to shake. "No," she said.

"Yes," the King of Heroes replied. "Now, accept your fate, Saber. You've finally found an epic spirit that even you are no match for." Gilgamesh smiled. "Are you willing to accept my proposal, Saber? Now that you understand my majesty and history? Lay down your sword and become my wife."

"To hell with you," Shirou growled as Saber rose to her feet.

"I refuse," she said. "You could never understand who I am. Not like him."

"Not like him?" Gilgamesh asked. His red eyes tracked back toward Shirou and then they shone with comprehension. "I see," he said, his voice gaining a hard edge. "You have already tried to take what is mine, faker. Not only do you try to make forgeries of my treasures, you've attempted to steal what belongs to me! You will pay for this crime with your life, thief!"

Every portal adjusted its position until it was aiming directly at Shirou. Wind rushed from Saber's blade and Gilgamesh moved his gaze back to Saber.

"I thought I told you that you could not beat me, Saber," he said.

"We won't know until we try," she shot back.

"If you insist," he said as another portal shone behind him. "I shall prove my superiority to both of you in one stroke."

Another weapon left the new portal. It was long, with a conical guard over its hilt. The "blade" of the weapon was actually three separate blade pieces covered with burning red lines. As Gilgamesh drew the weapon out and held it in a stance, the segments that formed the blade began to spin.

Wind swirled from around the weapon and the rush of air that came off of Excalibur as the golden blade was revealed seemed to be sucked into the storm that came from Gilgamesh's own sword.

"This is the sword that split the heavens from the earth," Gilgamesh said. "A weapon that can only be wielded by a true King. One that is truly my own. I call it: Ea."

Golden light burst from Saber's sword and she slashed it through the air with a cry of: _**"Excalibur!"**_

Gilgamesh spoke at the same time. _**"Enuma Elish!"**_ he cried and thrust his weapon forward.

The power unleashed form the two weapons met between Saber and Gilgamesh and warred for supremacy. Shirou and Tony watched in amazement as the golden light from the Holy Sword pressed against the swirling red light fired from the weapon Ea. Saber's face was set in concentration as she poured every part of her strength into her assault.

Gilgamesh, for his part, looked calm and composed. Then he smiled and the light from Ea grew in intensity and suddenly broke through the blast of Excalibur like a tidal wave shattering a thin wall.

The wave of power slammed itself into Saber and blasted her away from her position. She hit the ground limply, like a doll. A trench of destruction marred the ground between Saber and Gilgamesh, dust billowing everywhere and obscuring Shirou's vision.

The smoke cleared after a moment, and Shirou twisted his head to see Saber laying on the ground, blood pouring from an enormous wound on her side, creating a large pool of crimson liquid that her prone from lay in. Saber's braid had come undone in the blast, and her blonde hair lay spread around her head soaking in the slowly expanding pool of blood. Her jade eyes were dark and unfocused.

"Saber," Shirou whispered and Gilgamesh began to laugh.

"That was supposed to be the greatest sword in the history of swords," he declared. "And it couldn't even go one round against my Ea. Looking back, I guess I should've gone easy on her. I forgot that my opponents were just a woman, a faking thief, and an insect."

"Saber!" Shirou shouted as Gilgamesh continued to laugh.

There was an agonizing moment of silence. "Shirou," she murmured, her voice so weak it could barely be heard. "Is that you, my Knight?"

Saber didn't need to say anything else. A geyser of emotion roared up from within Shirou and he _knew_ he could get to his feet. His King needed him. Saber needed him.

Shirou climbed to his feet, unaware and uncaring of any protests from his body or any pain from his injuries as the weapons fell out of him. Gilgamesh stopped laughing as Shirou made his way to Saber.

He stood by his King and went down to his knees, not noticing the blood staining his pants. He brushed a lock of her golden hair away from her sightless eyes. Her saw her pain and his heart nearly shattered like it was glass. He remembered her laughter from earlier that day, when she'd asked him to go out of his comfort zone and try something new. The flash in her eyes as she watched him try to learn and perform for her and others.

"Hang on, Saber," he whispered, so that only she could hear. "I need you to hold on for me, my King."

"Shirou?" she asked, her voice sounding slightly stronger.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gilgamesh demanded. The laughter was gone from his voice now, and barely restrained contempt had taken its place.

Shirou rose to his feet and turned to face the King of Heroes. Tony, from his pinned position to one side said, "Son of a bitch," in an awed voice as he stared at Shirou.

Shirou glanced down at himself and saw that the holes ripped into him by the weapons of Gilgamesh had stopped bleeding. Steel blades sprouted from torn flesh and met together in a grim approximation of bandages. Every movement of Shirou's body made small scraping sounds of protest. He didn't care. He couldn't feel it anyway.

He locked eyes with the King of Heroes. He didn't know what expression was on his face, but Gilgamesh didn't look impressed. Tony, on the other hand, looked like he desperately wanted to get out of the way.

Gilgamesh started to speak.

"Shut up," Shirou told him. "You hurt Saber. My King. I don't need to hear anything else from you, you bastard."

"Then, die," Gilgamesh said and every weapon that had been pointing at Shirou fired at once.

Time stopped and Shirou flicked his eyes at each of the weapons, making sure to get a good look at each one, making sure that he knew them as intimately as he did his own body.

He finally understood the words that Archer always said. He couldn't use It, not yet, but finally understood It. How It worked. What It meant to him. What It was.

 _"I am the bone of my sword,"_ he intoned. Swords flashed into being with pulses of silver fire and then rained down from above, each one intercepting a weapon heading for his body. His copies weren't as powerful as the originals flying at him, but, then again, they didn't have to be to stop them.

 _When two magecrafts meet the weaker is always destroyed by the stronger,_ he remembered. But that only mattered when those forces met in direct opposition, as Gilgamesh had proven in his bout with Saber. Projectiles, however, worked differently. Any physical object in flight, be it a bullet, an arrow, or even a sword, was bound by forces that were greater than simple strength met in contest. Once an object left the wielder's direct control, it was a slave to laws of physics, no matter how much magic was involved.

Shirou's projections rained down onto Gilgamesh's swords and struck them just off center, imparting just enough force to send the weapons off of their flight paths and around him, and not even attempting to destroy them.

Shirou smiled as utter hate blazed from Gilgamesh in a nearly visible aura. More swords appeared around him. There were so many portals around the King of Heroes, that it looked like the sun was blazing behind him.

There were too many for Shirou to do the same trick twice, not without Archer's Marble full of swords to match it. So he didn't even try to.

 _"Steel is my body, and glass is my heart,"_ he said.

Flying death shot toward him as two defenses came to bear. _**"Shield of Hyrule."**_ The steel shield of the reincarnating hero of Hyrule appeared and blazed into a shining barrier. _**"Rho Aias."**_ And behind the shining barrier of the shield of hyrule sprouted the seven petalled defense of Ajax the Great.

The horde of weapons struck the first layer Shirou had created. The lesser weapons of the assault shattered against the first barrier before it broke down and the onslaught moved onto the multiple layers of Ajax's shield.

The true power of Link's shield became clear in that moment. Rho Aias was a shield meant to stop physical attacks, whereas Link's shield had been used to stop and even reflect magic from potent casters more powerful than Medea of Colchis. The magical effects of any of the weapons flying toward Shirou engaged as soon as they made contact with the Shield of Hyrule, and so were either dispersed or severely weakened as they tried to make their way through the seven petalled shield of Rho Aias.

The barrage ended before Shirou ran out of petals and the pain of the destroyed layers tore across his body. Shirou grimaced and tried to keep himself separated from the pain.

As the remnants of Rho Aias faded away, Gilgamesh's expression forwent any pretext of calm.

"You dare to think you can stop me from claiming what is mine?!" he roared. "Fine then, keeping Saber alive isn't going to be easy, but I'll manage it without you supplying her with mana."

The segments of Ea began to spin again and the wind returned. Shirou almost sagged with exhaustion and pain. He had to survive this final wave. He needed a trick, something that could hold back a blast that not even Excalibur could withstand.

 _You're not a person who fights,_ he reminded himself. _You're a person who creates. If you can't think of something to withstand that attack, then make something up that does._

The rush of air grew even stronger. Gilgamesh was not going to hold back.

Something flashed through Shirou's mind and he grabbed it without even thinking and poured his entire being into reconstructing that image down to the very last detail.

Golden light poured from him and began to coalesce into a shape that shone like the sun. From some distant place in Shirou mind, he could hear a great bell tolling majestically, flooding his senses with strength and power. The image came alive in his mind as if he was staring at the real thing.

Shirou stared at the glowing object that appeared before him and he heard Saber gasp from behind him.

Shirou!" she shouted, and she was suddenly standing behind him, her jade eyes shining with light. She wrapped one arm around him and held Excalibur with the other. Wordlessly, she proffered the hilt of the sword to him. He grasped it, his hand falling into place beside hers.

"That won't save you, thief!" Gilgamesh howled and thrust his weapon forward. _**"Enuma Elish!"**_

Saber and Shirou shouted their defiance and slammed Excalibur into the glowing shape that floated before them.

The swirling tide of red energy at rushed toward them met the bastion of golden light and was repelled. The wave stopped as it met the barrier and then surged back toward its user like furious storm. Gilgamesh screamed as the tide met him and blasted him away with a roar.

Silence fell and the dust cleared to reveal the King of Heroes, worn, hurt, but still standing. His own eyes shone as he glared at them with hate.

"Do you have any final words?" he growled.

"Yeah," Tony rasped from where he was pinned. He grinned and threw something at the King of Heroes. _"One."_ The object hit the ground and bounced closer. _"Two."_ It bounced again, falling just to the feet of the King of Heroes. _"Five!"_ he shouted with a surprisingly cheerful voice and in an appalling British accent.

The object, a small sphere colored gold, topped with a cross and studded with what looked like precious gems, exploded into a wave of blinding multicolored light and a blast of sound that resembled a singing choir. Shirou thought he could hear other words in the cacophony, but he couldn't make them out. The light shone into everyone's eyes like the rising sun, a swirling display of multicolored light and deafening sound that kicked back up the barely settled dust from the recent exchange.

As the light and dust cleared, Shirou saw Gilgamesh still standing there, small crater around him and his arms up as if to shield his eyes. He glanced around sharply and then looked confused. Then he let out a disgusted grunt.

"Cheap tricks," he muttered, before he turned and left.

A long, tense moment passed, as Shirou tried to work out why Gilgamesh hadn't attacked again. Then air seemed to ripple around Shirou and the glowing object vanished from in front of him, as did Saber's armor beside him.

Whatever strength that had kept Shirou going finally gave out and he began to collapse.

"Shirou!" Saber said and grabbed him before he could fall.

"Saber," he rasped, his throat suddenly very dry.

Saber simply held him, half hugging, half holding him as they stood together.

"I've finally figured it out, my Knight," she whispered to him. "All this time," she breathed. "You were my sheath, Shirou."

Shirou wasn't quite sure how he found the strength to smile. The moment held for an eternity.

"Don't mind me," Tony said. "Just bleedin' out on the ground here after blindin' the King of Heroes. You can have your tender moment, that's cool."

* * *

 **Author's note: Ding ding, round one goes to team Emiya. This was a lot of fun to write. Not having to deal with a useless Shirou anymore really added a nice touch to this battle. He and Saber were able to work together rather than try and sacrifice themselves and Shirou got to be a badass! We're almost to the endgame, ladies and gents. There's just a couple more pieces that need to be moved on the board.**

 **Lord of Memory: Yeah, I might actually write the battle later, but there was some buggery going on with Sinon's marble that made Gil extremely annoyed, extremely quickly, so he didn't hold back when he found her. He wasn't Ea levels of annoyed, but annoyed enough to use some of the more fuck you weapons in his armory rather than play around. :)**

 **SentinalSlice: Yeah, I liked the balance too. I tried to do the same thing when Pyrrha died, too. Now that Gil is actually out to play, levity is really going to be gone.**

 **Lord Jaric: Ow. I think you meant 'Harry', not Henry. But, yeah, your math is good. And, yeah, Tony's in some serious trouble with that sword sticking out of him. Gilgamesh can be quite the sadist.**

 **1eragon33: I afraid that the actual death of Gil is going to have to wait. As for the rest, well, I guess you'll have to wait and see.**

 **Isolono: You're absolutely right, Shirou can't use the Marble yet. He can fake it pretty well, as you've just seen, but actually manifesting it is going to take time that he doesn't have. Granted, once he** _ **can**_ **manifest it, this Shirou's reality Marble is going to be even more terrifying than Archer's was.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me, and they really are helping me stay strong.  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**


	79. Chapter 78

**Chapter 78**

 _Nothing here is what it seems. He isn't the plucky hero. The Alliance isn't some evil empire. This is not the grand arena._ \- The Operative, _Serenity_

They managed to keep Tony's bleeding under control until he could call Shirou's house with a cell phone he kept in one of his pockets. Then Dresden was able to open a Way to their location and get Tony indoors for rapid treatment.

As Rin and Harry swept Tony away, Saber all but dragged Shirou to his own room and gently laid him out on his futon.

Before he could speak, before he could do anything, Saber gently laid her lips on his forehead and whispered: "Rest, my Knight. We can speak later."

Darkness consumed him an instant later.

* * *

When he woke up, it was still dark outside and Saber sat, Seiza-style, beside him. When she saw he was awake, she smiled warmly at him.

"You are awake, Shirou," she said.

"Yeah," he said, with a small smile of his own. "What happened while I was asleep?"

"Link has been coordinating the information," she answered. "It appears that Barnett will make a full recovery, but it will take some time for him to be up to 100%."

"And you?" he asked, sitting up.

Saber shook her head. "My wounds are healing, Shirou. I am fine. I promise."

"That's good," he said, then he fell silent. "So… Gilgamesh…"

"The King of Heroes," Saber agreed.

"I've never seen a weapon like the one he used," Shirou told her. "It's… beyond what I can comprehend. I don't even think Archer could have imagined something that powerful."

Saber laid one hand onto Shirou. "Let us save such thoughts for tomorrow, Shirou. We will be more able to think when we're well rested." Their conversation ended again.

"Thank you, Shirou," Saber said. "For being there when I was lost." She closed her eyes and whispered: "I'm happy that I didn't lose you."

Shirou reached out and took one of her hands with his. "I'm happy that I didn't lose you either, Saber. Thank you."

They embraced each other and let silence fall around them.

"Shirou?" Saber asked. "Are you crying?"

"I was terrified," he confessed. "When he hit you with that sword and you couldn't stand. I thought I was going to shatter. If you'd disappeared then, I don't know what I would have done." He tightened his grip on her, as if he was afraid she would suddenly fade away.

"Shirou," Saber murmured. "I…" Then she fell silent.

Something occurred to Shrou and he pulled away from Saber to examine her. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked. "You used Excalibur again. If you're low on mana you'll-"

Saber silenced him with a finger on his lips. "We were not in a true pact when I destroyed Rider," she said. "Back then I could not gain any more mana from you because we did not have a complete pathway. Ever since we reforged our pact in the church, that has been different. We are now in a true pact, and I have been regaining mana from you at a consistent rate."

Shirou blinked and looked down at himself. "But, how can _I_ be sustaining you?" he asked. What was it Archer had said? _I imagine the strain of truly supporting a Servant will get to him before long, and then you'll stop being so cocky._ "Am I going to burn out by supporting you?" he asked.

"I don't know," Saber confessed, her voice sounding worried. "I haven't felt anything wrong with our bond. Have you?"

Shirou shook his head. "No, I feel fine."

"You aren't just saying that are you?" she asked, her voice stern.

"I swear, Saber. I feel fine."

Neither of them spoke for a long minute. "We may be in a stronger pact now," Saber said. "But I did use my Noble Phantasm." She pulled away from Shirou and he heard a quiet rustle. He glanced up to see Saber undressing. Her cheeks were flushed pink, whether with embarrassment or something else, Shirou couldn't tell.

His eyes went wide and his body went still as Saber's clothing was removed from her body. Her revealed pale skin glowed in the darkness of his room. Then she reached up and undid the braid of her hair. Her locks fell into a sheet of cascading golden light. That small change created a world of difference between the Saber he'd always known, and the one before him now.

It was still her, but a side of her that he'd never seen before, another side of her for him to love.

"Will you join me tonight, Shirou?" she asked, her voice embarrassed, and anxious, and hopeful.

Shirou stood there, frozen in surprise. Had she just? Somehow, he really wasn't sure where he gained enough brainpower to do it, he nodded his head.

Saber settled herself onto the futon with him.

* * *

Later, as he and Saber laid together, he spotted something sitting on his desk. A shopping bag that had been set there at some point by whatever force apparently kept the house clean ever since Harry and Rin took residence.

Shirou blinked at it for a second until he remembered what it was.

He carefully climbed out of his futon and made his way to the desk.

"Shirou?" Saber asked, from where she was laying.

He picked up the bag and quickly came back to Saber. "I forgot about this," he explained. "I was going to give it to you after our first date, but…" He fell silent, remembering the disaster that had happened after their argument on the bridge. He shook himself and carried on. "Anyway, I remembered that you said you liked tigers and lions, so, well…"

Suddenly embarrassed, he handed her the bag and fell silent.

Her curiosity roused, Saber sat up and reached in the bag, pulling out the soft object that was inside. Her eyes went wide, as did Shirou's.

It was an adorable lion plushie. Shirou had spotted Saber eyeing it while they'd been in the stuffed animal shop and he'd quickly bought it when Saber had left before hurrying after her. But something had been added to the doll at some point over the last few days, something Shirou certainly hadn't expected.

Sewn to the lion's right paw, was a small sword sized to match the lion it was connected to. Whoever had added the sword to the lion had gone to the extent of adjusting the lion's paw slightly, to make it look like it was actually holding the small sword.

"Shirou," Saber said, her voice soft. She ran a finger across the lion's face, as if she was petting a real lion cub. At that, an image popped into his mind, of Saber standing with an actual lion cub pressing a paw into her cheek from its perch from her shoulders.

He couldn't help but smile.

"Shirou," Saber said. "Did you add this sword to it?"

"No," he admitted. "I don't know how that sword got there. It wasn't part of it when I bought it."

Saber examined the added weapon and then smiled slightly before setting the lion down beside her.

As she and Shirou settled themselves, he looked over the lion as his eyes closed to sleep. Just before he drifted off, he thought that it was odd how the sword had been sewn onto the lion's paw with light purple thread.

* * *

Shirou woke early the next morning to see Saber sleeping beside him. He smiled at her relaxed expression and carefully got up and dressed before slipping away.

As he left the room his smile faded and his thoughts turned toward grimmer topics.

Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, was still around after the previous Grail War. Moreover, he knew that the Grail was corrupted and he still planned to make use of it, although for what he had not said.

Their biggest advantage at this stage was that they'd had so many Servants on their side with only Lancer left to oppose them. Now they were down two Servants and they didn't have any idea if they could defeat Gilgamesh the next time he appeared.

The archer wouldn't be as coy the second time around. Shirou had humiliated him, and even if he was only an insect in the Servant's eyes, he had still stung him. There would be a reckoning, and they had to be ready for it.

Shirou buried himself in his thoughts and started wandering, trying to think of what their course of action should be, letting the aimless motion help him think. They had to find Lancer and convince him to stand down from the fighting, and they had to destroy Gilgamesh.

But in order to defeat him, they'd have to find him as well. Gilgamesh had been hiding for ten years. His lair would be hard to track down. The same was true for Lancer. They didn't have any idea where he was or even who his Master was. Lancer had only appeared a handful of times, and usually only as an opportunist. It was as if his Master hadn't really cared about the War, and had only sent out the Servant to have the occasional bout of fun.

Shirou blinked as he realized that he'd wandered far away from his house while lost in his thoughts. As he glanced around, he realized that he'd made his way all the way to New City without being consciously aware of it.

As his gaze moved left and right, he spotted the church atop its hill. An idea occurred to Shirou.

If Gilgamesh was a Servant from the previous War, then Kotomine, the Overseer, should probably be told about it. He could also be convinced to assist in the tracking down of Lancer. If Kirei didn't know about the Grail being corrupted, then informing him of that would probably be enough to have him put a hold on the War.

Despite the clear logic of going to the church, Shirou grimaced with distaste. He didn't like Kirei, and he still hadn't forgotten Link's warning that the priest was dangerous. Still, if Kirei were to try anything aggressive, Shirou could probably handle him now, right?

Then he remembered. _Caster attacked the church, and Kotomine hasn't been seen since. For all I know, he's dead._

A small part of him hoped that was true, while the rest of him disapproved of the thought. He also doubted that Kirei would have let himself get surprised and killed. If Kirei was alive, then he could be anywhere in Fuyuki right now.

 _It's the smart move and the only place to start,_ Shirou told himself and begrudgingly made his way up the hill toward the church.

His stomach twisted as he arrived and opened the church doors. A gasp of surprise left him as he saw the interior of the building completely repaired, as if nothing had happened inside only a few days ago.

The pews sat in their perfectly straight rows and didn't appear to be recent replacements and the floor was perfectly clean. Even the yard outside where Link and Pyrrha had fought Archer was perfectly normal.

A creeping sensation travelled down Shirou's spine. There was no doubt in his mind that someone was in the building.

Instinct clawed at him, telling him to run, to run back to his house where Dresden's wards were and where epic heroes stayed. This unnatural repair wasn't right and it fed some other primal fear buried inside of Shirou as well.

He should run. Whatever was here wasn't worth it. Even if Kirei knew exactly where to find Lancer or even knew where Gilgamesh was hiding, it would be better for them to simply do the work themselves.

Shirou slowly made his way further into the church, fighting against the fear. He reached inside himself and prepared to pull the trigger of his switch. He wasn't going to be unprepared in case something went wrong.

He made his way through the worship hall and toward the courtyard out a side door. Where there had once been a massive hole that had been blasted through to the outside of the church, now stood the church's walls and previous decoration. Which shouldn't have been possible. Damage like that couldn't simply be repaired without any mark, and certainly not that quickly.

Shirou continued to walk, while his instincts screamed at him even more fervently to flee back to safety and to never leave it again.

He made his way toward the stairwell that lead to the lower levels of the church. To the worship hall where they'd fought with Caster and Kuzuki and where both of them had perished at Archer's hands.

There had been other hallways and rooms in the lower level of the church, but they hadn't explored them, focused instead on beating Caster and rescuing Saber.

There hadn't been any sign of Kirei for the entire trek so far, and it was doubtful that there were other paths out the lower areas. If Kirei had come back, there would certainly have been some sign of it in the main hall.

Shirou made his way down the stairs and into the lower worship hall. Like above, this room was completely and unnaturally repaired. The stone floor was smooth and even, and the pews down here had been reset and repaired back to where they had been before they had arrived.

He glanced around, remembering where Saber had been standing in that wedding gown, fighting against the Command Seal to end his life. As his eyes adjusted to the lower level of light, he spotted a doorway set to one side, one he didn't remember being there before.

The fear grew more intense as he went against his better judgement and approached the doorway. He slowly opened the door with a hand that should have been trembling, but was as steady as steel.

The light from the worship hall slipped into the dark stone chamber as the door creaked open and Shirou saw stone beds with skeletal forms laying on them. Water dripped into the mouths of the withered husks and Shirou simply stared at the sight.

Recognition paralyzed him and made his skin go cold. Fear evolved into utter terror as Shirou gazed at the husks he shouldn't know.

He had not been the only child to survive the fire of the previous Grail War. Others had been on the fringes of the flames and had managed to survive. He was the only one, so far as he knew, who had survived both being within the fire itself and come out completely unscathed.

The other children had been taken in by the church and, Shirou had assumed, adopted by other families like he had been by Kiritsugu.

Although, now that he forced himself to think about it, he'd never seen them around the city. But he also hadn't bothered to seek them out, prefering to simply assume and to forget about them.

The truth stared back at him in the scene before him. They hadn't been adopted. They'd been buried under the church and left there.

 _No_ , he realized. _Not buried and forgotten. Used._

Corpses didn't need water dripping into their mouths. The children were still alive, at least in the most technical sense of the word. They existed, but they didn't live, not really. Not as they should have.

 _Coward,_ the still forms seemed to say. _You abandoned us. You forgot us. You could have saved us._

Revulsion and guilt joined his fear and made bile rise in Shirou's throat. He wasn't quite sure how he managed not to puke at the mix of swirling emotions.

He'd been living for ten years, dreaming of becoming a Hero of Justice, when his fellow survivors had been trapped and used as little more than food and kept barely alive. What Hero of Justice ignored those who were suffering? What Knight of the Round left those in need to die so that he could live a normal life?

The eyes of the husks seemed to lock onto him, even though he knew that was impossible. Their gazes pierced him like the weapons of the King of Heroes, heavy and agonizing.

The truth of their situation, of what he had ignored, dug into him, mind and soul, and started to tear him apart.

 _I abandoned them,_ Shirou thought. _I forgot about them. I could have saved them._ He was no hero. He was no knight. He was a coward, who refused to help those who truly needed it. What was anything he'd done in the last ten years when compared to the sin that was laid before him?

 _You're arrogant, Shirou,_ a voice echoed in his memory. Shirou blinked as the words Harry had said came back to him.

 _You don't want the people around you to feel that loss, so you collect their burdens to make their lives easier. You put everyone, anyone, over yourself to an irrational degree. You assume that it's your fault. That if you're there and can possibly try to solve the problem, that any failure is because of an action or inaction on your part._

 _What you need to remember, what I needed to remember, is that you're responsible for your own choices, Shirou. Not everyone else's. If you let go of that, you'll be able to heal. You won't tear yourself apart over everything that happens around you, and you'll still be able to save people._

 _I didn't bury those children here,_ Shirou thought. _I didn't feed them to a creature that wouldn't care about them._

He hadn't gone looking for them, hadn't asked after them, and hadn't cared that they hadn't shown up in town over the last ten years. He felt the guilt from that, but the sense of responsibility that that been welling up within him, the sense that he _should_ have been able to do something to save them, stopped ripping him apart. It didn't change his horror, or his disgust, but it became a fire inside him instead of destroying him.

He'd been a child, one that had faced a horrible situation, sure, but still a child. He hadn't hurt them and he hadn't been in a position to save them either.

Now, though, he could do something about it.

 _"Trace on,"_ he said and projected the Sword of the Cross _Amoracchius_ _ **,**_ the Excalibur of another world. As the weapon settled into his hand with a flash of silver light, silver fire ran down the blade and filled the room with its pure, heavenly glow.

The husks of the children survivors burst into flame as the light reached them and began to render them into ash. There were no screams of pain, no roaring sound, or blazing flashes of light. Just the silver fire taking them away from the mortal coil.

"I'm sorry," Shirou said. "This is all I can do. Be free of your pain, and finally have rest."

"Are you enjoying yourself, Shirou Emiya?" a voice asked from behind him.

Shirou spun to see Kirei Kotomine standing behind him, a grim smile on his face.

"Just because this is a church," he continued. "Doesn't mean you should go delving into all of its secrets. Even the Princess of Colchis didn't search this chamber."

Shirou reacted out of blind reflex, acting before his mind could reason out why he would even want to act. He lashed out with the sword in his hand to strike the priest down where he stood.

Kirei didn't even flinch as the sword moved toward his neck in a fatal strike. A massive patch of shadow behind the priest lashed out and slapped the weapon from Shirou's hand with enough force to make his entire arm go numb.

"Sorry," a low voice rumbled and then the massive shadow stomped away at a gesture from Kirei, back into the other sections of the church.

"'In the sweat of thy face,'" Kirei quoted. "'Shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return.'" He smiled as he finished the quotation and fixed his attention onto Shirou. "I must say," he added. "I'm surprised to see you here, Shirou Emiya. I'd assumed that after the destruction Caster wrought onto the church, you and Rin would disregard its existence."

"We did," Shirou replied, flexing his numb arm. "I came here on a whim to see if you were alive so I could inform you about something unusual. I don't need to do that anymore."

"Do you mean to say that you have found what you seek?"

"Yes," Shirou told him. "You were right, Kotomine. A Hero of Justice does need a villain to face against." He locked eyes with the priest. "I just didn't realize that that villain would be you."

"An interesting claim to make," Kirei said. "And what makes you come to that conclusion?"

"There's only type of being around Fuyuki that feeds on human souls," Shirou said. "Servants. And there's only one currently running around that has needed an extended supply of mana that needed to stay hidden."

Silence. "I'm surprised," Kirei eventually said. "You have grown much over the course of this conflict, Shirou Emiya. When we first met, you were nothing more than a dreamer who had been given Command Seals in order to try and fulfill that hidden desire. Now, here you are, confident and holding power over another. How does that make you feel?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes at the barbed question. "Don't try to turn this on me, Kotomine," he said. "I'm not the villain here."

"Indeed," Kirei said, still calm. "You are the Hero of Justice that you have always wanted to be. Standing up for the weak and punishing the strong. Standing before your nemesis."

Kirei stayed completely calm as he spoke and Shirou tried to see past his neutral expression. Something nagged at him, and he couldn't figure out what it was.

"I had planned on sealing this place up," Kirei continued, still standing still. "The need for it has finally passed and I was coming to start the work when I noticed that you were here."

Kirei's gaze stayed locked onto Shirou and the fact that he hadn't moved bothered him. For their first talk, Kirei had been active, wandering around the main hall as he explained the war to Shirou. So why would he stay still?

 _Unless,_ Shirou realized. _It's not his movement that matters._

Something cold and sharp stabbed into Shirou from behind. He twisted his head to see Lancer standing behind him, the blood red spear of Gae Bolg thrust into Shirou's chest.

He fell to the ground as darkness tried to swallow him. The endless agony of the strike from Gae Bolg prevented him from truly passing out, forcing Shirou to lie there floating in pain as his body's unusual healing ability tried to repair the damage done to him, while the spear's curse continued to inflict damage and tried to end Shirou's life.

His awareness went dim and hazy as he heard Kirei speak and give orders to the Lancer and whatever being had disarmed Shirou. Whatever it had been, it had been strong and fast. Too strong and fast and massive to be human.

The pain searing pain in his chest prevented Shirou from making any further connections.

* * *

 **Author's note: And so the end draws nearer, and the final pieces are finally being moved into play. I say pieces, but I should just say piece, shouldn't I? ;-) We're finally about to get into endgame. I love how this chapter shows Shirou's growth, especially with his relationship with Saber. I've been working for this whole story to make their relationship more real than it is in canon. I really hope that I did it well because, while Avalon is a fun ship, I think this version is stronger for all parties involved.  
Plus, Shirou is getting to be all kinds of cool. First he took on Gil, and now he's actually skilled enough and grown enough to actually be the hero he wants to be.**

 **Lord of Memory: Sure, Ea takes time to charge, but, on the other hand, it's the weapon that split the sea and the sky.** _ **Nothing**_ **tops it in destructive power. Add the Gate of Babylon to it, and Gil's untouchable. That's what makes him such a pain in the ass to write a battle against. :)  
And, don't worry, he'll get his comeuppance. Soon.**

 **PasiveNox: Yeah, I was really proud of that line. It's probably the most Tony thing I've ever written.**

 **1eragon33: Oh yeah, the two of them are so alike. Plus, any crazy plan that works is brave. If it kills you, then it's stupid. It's actually a pretty standard Dresden tactic as well. Granted, I attributed Shirou's counter strategy to Archer more than Link, but I can totally see where you're getting that from.**

 **KiroZen: I can, actually. Throw enough Secondary Servants in front of Shirou, and you'll get something pretty close. Don't forget that he has a copy of every single weapon he's seen from these Servants, and extra thanks to one Harry Dresden.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me, and they really are helping me stay strong.  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	80. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79**

 _Constant vigilance!_ \- Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody, _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

Saber stepped out of Shirou's room completely dressed and filled with energy. It was as if some invisible weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders. The idea of having to face Gilgamesh was still a daunting thought, but with Shirou by her side, she felt as if she could do anything.

As she reached the porch, she saw Link working on breakfast over a campfire and she left to join him.

"Good morning," Link said as she reached him. "Did you sleep well?"

Despite the question's innocuous nature, Saber couldn't help but blush. The heat that flashed across her cheeks caught Link's attention and a mischievous light shone in his eyes.

"Is something wrong, Saber?" he asked.

Saber composed herself and gave Link a regal look. "No, nothing is wrong, Link. And I slept fine. Yourself?"

"It was fine," he replied, casually. He stirred something in a pot over the fire and Saber relaxed just slightly. "It was even better after the neighbors settled down," Link added without missing a beat.

Saber's cheeks went red again at the remark and she started to snap a reply when she felt something run through her core. Link's expression went serious at the exact same moment.

"Shirou!" they shouted in unison and they launched themselves in motion. Armor and weapons flashed onto their bodies as they ran at full speed toward the source of their concern, Saber leaping over walls and buildings to cut down on the distance she had to move, while Link's boots shimmered and he surged ahead at high speed, weaving down the streets and around anything that was in his way.

As they made their respective ways toward their target, they drew close for a stretch.

"Did you notice he was gone?" Link asked as Saber landed next to him and ran.

"No," Saber answered. "I hadn't given it much thought. I suppose I thought he might have been in the shed."

"Golden Goddesses, I'm going to have to follow him around again, aren't I?" Link complained. "Just when I think he's finally developing some common sense, he has to go sneak off somewhere and get himself in danger."

Saber didn't reply. She was too worried about Shirou's condition. He was still alive, she knew that much, but that fact could change at any moment. And he hadn't used a Command Seal, so he either would not, or could not, use one to call for help.

She didn't blame Link for complaining as they ran, either. She understood it was his way of expressing his misapprehension at the situation. The last time he'd left Shirou alone, he'd been attacked by Rider. He clearly didn't want to repeat the experience.

The run seemed like it was taking forever, and Saber kept pushing herself more and more, convinced that Shirou's life was about to end. She could feel his connection to her, like a candle flickering in the wind. A small, delicate flame that could go out with just the simplest of efforts.

Saber and Link reached the church in record time and burst through the doors without slowing down.

The church was, somehow, completely repaired after the destructive search by Caster and the battle against her that took place after.

Saber ignored that in favor of barreling through the main worship hall and, following her instincts, made her way toward the lower worship hall, Link following her lead.

In an eye blink, Saber hurled herself down the stairs and entered the lower worship hall. Her gaze flicked around and spotted an open doorway she'd never noticed before. Laying sprawled on the ground was Shirou's body, blood pooling from a wound in his chest.

"Shirou!" she shouted and ran to her Master.

Two steps into her run, Lancer appeared before the open door, the cursed spear of Gae Bolg resting across his shoulders.

"Hey there, Saber," he said, smirking.

Air condensed around Saber and she blasted forward with tremendous speed and Lancer was forced to spin his spear into a defensive position to stop her strike.

The confident air that surrounded Lancer slipped as he struggled to hold back Saber's all out strike.

"Saber!" Link shouted. Saber dropped low without looking and an arc of blue-white energy flew over her and struck Lancer squarely.

Lancer was driven backward by the blast of power and Saber took advantage of his compromised position to surge forward again with another burst of wind.

Lancer managed to recover in time and brought his spear back into a defense, but as the weapons locked against each other, Link blurred forward with impressive speed of his own and slashed at Lancer, a pair of golden gauntlets shimmering onto his hands as he lashed out with his sword.

Lancer danced away at the last second and the impact of the Master Sword against stone created a massive dust cloud.

"I'll hold him!" Link called out to Saber. "Get to Shirou. Hurry!"

Saber turned and ran toward Shirou again. The dust cloud billowed as Lancer leapt toward her. "No you don't!" he declared. Then a metal claw shot from the cloud and clamped onto Lancer's arm before being yanked back and dragging the Servant with it. There was a heavy sound of impact and then she heard Link reply.

"Why don't you leave the good lady alone and keep your eyes on me, Lancer? You got off easy last time we faced each other. Don't think you're going to be able to run like you did before."

Weapons clashed against each other as Saber made her way toward Shirou. A few steps later, she ran straight into a solid barrier and that forced her away from the entrance where Shirou was laying.

With a snarl, Saber swung her sword at the barrier, but the plane of magical energy was able to withstand her assault.

Saber furrowed her brow and glanced around, trying to find the source of the barrier. Her innate magic resistance wasn't tearing the spell down, but that was likely due to the fact it wasn't targeting her specifically.

Even Dresden's shields could hold her back for a few brief moments. But if the barrier was keeping her away from Shirou, then it wasn't something made by a modern mage. Which meant…

She turned to see Lancer and Link exchange a furious series of blows, neither side giving any ground in the storm of strikes.

Saber mentally cursed herself for not remembering. Just because a Servant was summoned in a particular class, didn't mean that they did not possess knowledge or skills that could fall under other classes.

She faced the barrier again and tried to find a way to break through. She couldn't afford to use her Noble Phantasm, not with Shirou so close and the church above them. Excalibur wouldn't help her here, and she doubted that Lancer would have created the barrier to let her use the Sheath of the Wind King to pierce it.

She could try and simply hammer through the barrier, but Shirou might not have that much time. There had to be another way.

Saber turned and launched herself at Lancer again, unleashing a battle cry. The blue armored Servant lithely evaded her strike and back away form the two of them.

"Link," Saber said. "There's a barrier keeping me away from Shirou. Switch with me."

"Right," Link said and Lancer leapt at them. His blood-red spear spun and thrust at them and forced them to go to the defensive. Lancer fought like a determined hound and forced both of them away from the doorway that he'd shielded. Lancer was fighting far more fiercely than he had in their last battle. It wasn't hard to piece together why. Lancer had been cooped up for the majority of the Grail War, waiting, as his Master had, for the competition to weed itself out. As a result, Lancer was pouring his all into this, his first serious confrontation.

As the three of them separated he smiled.

"I'm glad that you two managed to last until the very end," he said. "We can finally finish what we started when we first met."

They converged once again, Link trying to evade and pass Lancer, while Saber tried to force Lancer to focus his attention on her.

After another quick exchange, a voice rang out from the doorway behind Lancer. "That's enough," it said.

Saber and Link ceased their battle and Lancer took a step back, his eyes watching the two of them. Saber shifted her gaze to the doorway that was her objective and then her eyes went wide as Kirei Kotomine stepped into view, dragging Shirou's unmoving form with him.

The priest scuffed something with his foot and the barrier fell, allowing the Overseer to make his way into the lower worship hall.

"I suggest that the two of you stand down," he said and dropped Shirou before him. Shirou let out a grunt as he hit the cold, stone floor. "If your only objective in being here is to retrieve this boy, I will gladly hand him over to you."

"Sure you will," Link replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"If I wished to see your Master dead, I would have simply had him killed," Kirei said. "But, as you can see, he is still alive. As Servants, you are here to have a wish granted by the Holy Grail. If you so desire, I could summon the Grail right now. After all, it is my duty as the Overseer to help determine who is most worthy of wielding the cup."

"Do you mean to fool us into believing you are ignorant of the true nature of the Holy Grail?" Saber snapped. "That thing is no granter of wishes, it is a magical weapon. It is also corrupted, cursed. No good will come from using it."

"What?" Lancer asked and his gaze shifted toward Kirei.

"Did you think we wouldn't figure it out?" Link asked. "We investigated the Greater Grail and Harry realized that there was something inside it. Something dark and destructive."

"When Caster brought me with her to attack you," Saber continued. "I recognized you as a Master in the previous Grail. Just as you undoubtedly recognized me. Considering how events have fallen, I would rather you not insult my intelligence by trying such a ridiculous ploy. You know far more than you pretend to."

"What are they talking about, Kotomine?" Lancer growled.

Kirei sighed. "How tedious," he said. "If that is your stance on the matter, then I'm afraid I have no further use for you."

Footsteps echoed from the stairs behind them and Saber and Link shifted to watch as a golden haired figure descended the stairs and joined them.

"Gilgamesh," Saber growled.

"Ah," Kirei said. "I see you have already learned about my Servant from the previous Grail War."

"You've been working with an extra Servant this whole time?" Lancer snapped.

"I figured that you would be amenable to another ally, considering the circumstances of this particular Grail War," Kirei answered.

"Then why haven't I heard about him until now?" Lancer asked.

"If I had told you of him earlier, would you honestly have fought by his side as an equal?" Kirei asked.

"I would rather die first," Lancer told him. "The other guy is more fun."

Kirei started walking toward the stairway out of the lower hall. Neither Link nor Saber made a move to stop him, their attention fixed on the pair of Servants that were in the chamber with them. Saber slowly made her way to the prone Shirou as Kirei moved away from him.

Likewise, neither Lancer nor Gilgamesh made a move to attack, the two of them eyeing each other instead.

Thus, Kirei Kotomine made his way up the stairs that led out of the lower worship hall. "Gilgamesh, Lancer, dispose of this trash," he ordered and left.

Saber finally reached Shirou as Lancer readied his spear and golden portals opened behind and around Gilgamesh.

Link adjusted his position so that any attacks would have to get near him before they could reach either Saber or Shirou. He readied his sword and shield and then his clothing shimmered.

Golden gauntlets appeared on his hands, his boots became the winged pair, and even his clothing changed. Instead of his green tunic and chain shirt, he suddenly was wearing a golden breastplate with a black and red leather outfit underneath. The air around Link hummed with magical power.

"Get Shirou out of here," he told Saber. He readied his sword. _**"Blade of Evil's Bane."**_

"But," Saber protested as golden sunlight shone from the Master Sword. "Link you can't-"

"Just go," he ordered her. "I'm not planning on sticking around to die. I'll be right behind you."

Gilgamesh smirked. "Do you think such trinkets will be able to stop my treasures?" he asked. "You are foolish indeed."

Link gave the King of Heroes an wolfish smile. "I guess we won't know until we try," he replied. "Why don't you swing at me with that pole that's up your ass like a real swordsman and see how well you do. I promise to play nice until you're good and ready."

Gilgamesh's slitted eyes narrowed. "Then die," he declared and weapons fired from the gates behind him.

Golden light blazed from the back of Link's left hand as he moved with incredible speed and strength. Noble Phantasms flew at him like bullets from a gun, and he deflected each and every one of them. No one moved as they watched one of the greatest displays of swordsmanship that had ever appeared within the Holy Grail War.

No matter how fast the Noble Phantasms flew, no matter how strong their structures were, and no matter how the King of Heroes fired them; Link was always fast enough, strong enough, or durable enough to hold back the barrage.

He didn't charge toward Gilgamesh, he didn't even try to fight back. Instead, he forced Gilgamesh to attack him, unleashing weapon after weapon at the Hero of Hyrule, only to see each and every one be stopped before it could truly harm him or come even near Saber or Shirou.

Saber shook her head and grabbed Shirou, hoisting him up to his feet. As soon as she laid her hands on her Master, Shirou shuddered and became more responsive. The discoloration sprouting from his chest immediately began to fade away and Shirou's wound began to close.

Shirou drew in a breath and looked around, his eyes becoming clear. "Saber?" he asked and then he saw Link and his eyes went wide.

"We have to go, Shirou," she told him. "Before Lancer tries to attack us while Link is busy." Saber gripped Shirou's hand tightly. "Whatever happens," she said. "Don't leave my side."

"Alright," Shirou replied.

"Link!" Saber shouted. "Let's go!" Then she and Shirou sprinted toward the exit.

Link blocked a flying weapon with his shield and then spun, slashing his sword and unleashing an arc of blazing blue light toward Gilgamesh. Then he started making his way toward the exit, walking backward so he could intercept any more incoming attacks.

Lancer surged forward with a burst of speed and Gilgamesh fired several more weapons. Link knocked away a pair of flying swords and then stopped when he saw that Lancer had shifted his run and thrust his spear at Gilgamesh, and the King of Heroes had blocked the strike and several weapons to form a defensive web around himself.

"Lancer?" Link asked.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Cu Chulainn answered. "I've got absolutely no intention of fighting for you guys. This guy just pisses me off more than you do."

Lancer moved and attacked Gilgamesh several more times, thrusting his spear through gaps in the web of weapons around the King of Heroes and forcing Gilgamesh to evade the strikes from the cursed spear.

"But, Lancer," Link said.

"Just get out of here," Lancer said, cutting him off. "And when you see the other guy, tell him I'm sorry we couldn't have that real drink together."

Link blinked at the message, not understanding what it meant, but he said: "Okay, I will." Then he turned and followed Saber and Shirou out of the church.

The three of them ran all the way to the foreigner's graveyard before Shirou had to stop because of his injury.

"Saber," he grunted. "I can't… It…"

"Sit down, Shirou," she told him and they settled down to the ground. Link spun to face the way they had come, watching for potential pursuers.

"At least we know who Lancer's Master is," the hylian said. "And that he's not likely to cooperate."

Saber didn't reply, instead focusing her attention on Shirou. "This will probably hurt," she warned Shirou. Then she forced her fingers into the wound on Shirou's chest.

A violent spasm rocked Shirou's body and then relief flowed through him in a wave blossoming from his chest. Shirou looked down at his chest to see that the bleeding had finally stopped.

"How?" he asked.

"I simply poured more energy into the sheath," Saber replied. "You should be able to heal at your normal pace now that the curse has been countered.

"Sheath?" Shirou asked. Then his eyes widened. "Wait a minute. Do you mean _that_ sheath?"

"The one that I thought was lost," Saber confirmed. "The one that currently rests inside of you."

Shirou sat there in stunned disbelief as the facts all fell into place. _No heroic spirit is ever called upon by chance. A link must exist between the summoner and the spirit_ , he remembered.

 _Rin didn't believe that she had a catalyst of her own,_ Shirou thought. _She unknowingly had one that had been given to her by her father. While I unknowingly carried one from my own father, buried somewhere within my body._

"But how did your sheath end up inside of me?" Shirou asked, as Saber helped him to his feet and the set off toward home once again.

"I suppose that Kiritsugu was the one to put it there," Saber answered. "He used it to summon me in the previous Grail War."

"So what does this sheath even do?" Link asked.

"It is a Noble Phantasm that heals its bearer's wounds," Saber replied. "He who holds the sheath of Excalibur is virtually invulnerable from harm."

"That's an awful thing to lose," Link commented.

"It was stolen from me before my final battle," Saber said. "Then lost to time until Kiritsugu obtained it. He must have thought it was more advantageous to keep it rather than return it to me."

"And, at the end of the last War, he must have placed it within me," Shirou said. "So that he could save me." Shirou felt a weight appear in his stomach. "He took the effects of the fire, so that I could live."

"Yes," Saber said. Then she smiled. "Now, we really are a pair, aren't we? King and knight, sword and scabbard, joined together."

They continued to walk in silence as they made their way closer to Shirou's home.

"Who is 'the other guy?'" Link thought aloud.

"What was that?" Shirou asked.

"Lancer's final words to me, a request. He said: 'When you see him, tell the other guy that I'm sorry we couldn't have that real drink together.'"

Saber stopped dead in her tracks, her shoulders going very stiff.

"Saber?" Shirou asked.

"We've all been fools," she cursed. "In our confidence, we all forgot the most basic rule of this Grail War."

"What rule?" Shirou asked, still confused.

"There's two of _every_ class of Servant, Shirou," she said, her voice deadly serious and, just maybe, slightly afraid.

"What does that mean?" Shirou demanded.

Suddenly they heard footsteps running toward them. Link drew his sword and they faced the source of the sound.

Rin was running toward them at full speed, her motions faster than human, implying she was reinforcing her body. Her eyes were wide with concern. Shirou opened his mouth to call to her, when he the mushroom cloud erupt in the distance behind her.

* * *

 **Author's note: Well, now you all know how the fight with Berserker is going. :) I promise, his identity will be revealed next chapter. This also means that you all have one last chance to place your bets.  
In other news, Link got to be really badass here and I'm really glad I got that chance. Gil deserves to get a little thrown back at him. A great song to listen to for this chapter is The Evil King by NateWantsToBattle. It's for the wrong Link, true, but it really fits the tone.  
** **Now, in the interest of full disclosure, there is a chance that there will not be a chapter next week. I'm about to do a big move, and I don't know how long it will take to get everything set up and settled in. Worst case scenario, there will be a one week gap between chapters. Do I think it's likely? Not really, but I'm just being careful.**

 **PasiveNox: I'm fairly sure that trouble and Shirou are on a first name basis at this point.**

 **Savagemaster1999: Next chapter, I promise. The time for secrecy is done, and all will be revealed. I will point out, that there is a pretty massive clue that no one seems to have noticed yet. Or, if they have noticed it, they haven't mentioned it.**

 **SentinalSlice: I thought it was a nice touch, especially the alteration.**

 **Lord Jaric: FINALLY! Someone called me out my quotes! I was starting to think no one was paying attention to them. And now I have confirmation that there is at least one Browncoat in the crowd. :)  
And, he's plenty mindless, just not in the traditional sense.**

 **1eragon33: Actually, it's sorta been an unspoken rule for me that this Link can't use healing items. Since he only ever finds them in TP, it didn't seem right to give him healing items. As for the swords, I think that you're not entirely wrong. I haven't been intentionally writing them that way, but the Swords of the Cross are more than just weapons, just like the Master Sword is more than just the signature sword of Link. Shirou might not get access to Fi or the Swords complete powers, but they're a bit more than simple copies as well.**

 **Dragon Tag: I certainly think he has. His relationship with Saber and his drive to be a Hero have certainly evolved from their canon states. I think they're far stronger and more healthy and mark a significant shift in Shirou's character**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me, and they really are helping me stay strong.  
** **This story has been an amazing ride so far and I can't wait for it to keep going. There's still a ton of stuff to cover and I hope to see you all, and more, riding with me as the story continues and comes to its proper end. We're not done yet, ladies and gents.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.  
** **Thanks for reading!**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **P.S. Is it Sunday yet?**


	81. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80**

 _In war, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice._ \- The Grey Wardens Creed

Harry and Rin sat together in the living room, drinking tea and conversing.

"I still don't like it," Rin said. "It might be like Emiya to go off on his own, but for Saber and Link to be missing as well?"

Harry sighed. "Rehashing the points isn't going to make them change, Rin," he told her. "Yes, they're gone. Yes, they didn't leave a note. But short of wandering around and yelling their names really loud, there's not much we can do right now."

"You could track them," Rin told him.

Harry shook his head. "The funny thing about having a spotlessly clean house is that there's nothing I can use. Like I've told you twice now, without a focus, a tracking spell doesn't work."

Rin let out an annoyed breath. She hadn't forgotten, but her options were limited.

She and Harry had woken late and immediately checked on Barnett and Illya's condition. Tony had been asleep, but he was already starting to look better despite his injuries from Gilgamesh the night before. As they'd finished with him, Sakura had come in and told them that she'd take care of Tony until he woke up, so they'd moved on to Illya.

Illya's fever had gotten worse, now that Sinon was also gone, and she was being attended to by her maids.

Once the health checks had been done they gone looking for Shirou and had spent the better part of five minutes searching the house for him, Saber, or Link.

There hadn't been any sign of them, apart from the beginnings of a breakfast that had been started and then abandoned.

Since then, they had been waiting and trying to figure out what might have drawn Shirou and his Servants away without them telling anyone.

Rin shifted her fingers on her tea cup. "I just have a bad feeling, Harry," she said. "I feel like we're forgetting something important."

Before Harry could answer, there was the sound of the doorbell ringing. Harry and Rin glanced at each other. Harry raised an eyebrow and Rin shook her head.

Harry rose and his coat billowed behind him as he slowly made his way to the front door. The doorbell rang again and Harry caught the sound of movement from other parts of the house, the other occupants responding to the prompting from the front door.

Harry got there first and drew his blasting rod from his coat as he reached it.

"Who's there?" he called out, not opening the door. Behind him, he heard Rin following him. Then, his eyes went wide with alarm as his senses were assault with a sensation he hadn't been expecting.

"Rin!" he roared. "Run!"

Rin's body acted on complete reflex, listening to the absolute authority in Dresden's shout.

She turned and ran from the front door. There was the sound of shattering wood as something huge smashed through the front door and sent Dresden flying through the air past her and into the living room by way of one of the walls.

Rin glanced over her shoulder and saw a large, humanoid figure, with white skin and covered with bulging and rippling muscles. War paint, or maybe tattoos, were scattered across his face and body. His torso was bare, and his waist was covered in a swath of armored cloth like a battle skirt, topped by a large, metal belt. A thick, bristling beard adorned his face, and his eyes shone with glee. His hands and forearms were encased in some armor that looked to be made of stone, and he held a large axe in both hands.

 _Berserker?!_ she thought with alarm. _But Saber-_ Then she realized the obvious fact that she'd forgotten. What they'd all forgotten in the excitement and surprises of the last few days. Lancer wasn't the only enemy Servant left in the conflict.

 _"Forzarre!"_ Harry shouted, unleashing a blast of force through the hole he'd been sent through. The spell slammed itself into the unexpected Servant, but it barely even made him stumble as he forced his way into the house after her.

"Rin!" Harry shouted. "Find Shirou! Now! I'll hold him off!"

Rin always took pride in her ability to think rationally, but the sight of the Berserker coming into the house that she'd considered safe, triggered a fear response so powerful that she didn't think of anything but listening to the direction given by her Servant.

She ran down the hallway as fast as she could, and then hurled herself through the nearest window. As she hit the ground in a roll, Lash's voice whispered in her ear.

 _We need this, Rin,_ she said. And then Rin felt something like half of her mana simply vanish from her body. She stumbled slightly at the sudden loss and was able to hear Dresden's stentorian shout.

 _ **"Small Favor!"**_

There was a roaring sound from near her and a beam of hellish looking fire roared by her and tore it's way through Shirou's house. In just about a second, a barrier of blazing fire cut through Shirou's house and isolated about half of it from the world around it.

Rin could feel the heat from the wall and understood without investigation that it would be death to even touch the barrier.

 _Why didn't the defenses stop him?_ Rin thought. _Surely a rampaging Servant should have set them off._

Rin shook her head violently and cursed herself for not thinking. The bounded field that surrounded Shirou's house was a simple one. It simply alerted the inhabitants of hostile intent to give them a few seconds warning.

Harry must have tied his own wards to the already existing bounded field as an act of courtesy, and so that they wouldn't react to a random stranger who happened to be feeling hostile coming into the field. Or, worse, to one of Taiga's bouts of hysterics.

Whoever the Berserker's Master was, must have simply torn the original bounded field down an instant before he'd ordered his Servant to attack, thereby giving him the best chance to launch a surprise offensive.

Rin glanced around, trying to see if she could find the enemy Master, but if he was around, she couldn't spot him.

She ran through her options, trying to come up with some kind of a plan.

Shirou was missing. Illya, her maids, Tony, and Sakura were all in the house somewhere. Sella and Leysritt could handle themselves and keep Illya safe.

But Tony was injured and Sakura…

Without thinking, Rin ran to the guest house where Tony had been resting and where she'd last seen Sakura. As she neared the building, she noticed that the light around it seemed muted. The closer she got the the room, the more the lighting dimmed and the stronger she could feel magical energy.

 _Sakura,_ Rin thought, her heart swelling with pride. Despite being new to her magecraft, Sakura must have created her own defensive bounded field the moment she'd heard the attack. Whatever training Lash had imparted to her as she'd slept had been sufficient to help Sakura think on her feet in a sudden crisis. That meant she and Barnett were as safe as they were going to be, with or without her.

So, what would be her next course of action?

The answer was obvious. She couldn't do anything to help her Servant trapped inside the barrier with the monstrous Servant that they had overlooked. Everyone else was going to be as safe as they could be as they were. That meant she had to do what Harry had told her. Find Shirou and get him back here before she lost her other Servant.

* * *

Harry stood in the center of the pentagram that had trapped him once in life and faced the Berserker that stood in the living room.

"So," he said, as they simply stared at each other. "You're what we forgot. Lancer's Master kept you in reserve, waiting for us to wear each other out so you could come in and smash us."

The Berserker nodded. "And it sucked," he replied, his voice low but not gutural. "Sitting down there with nothin' to do. I wasn't even allowed to go outside for fear of some Servant spotting me and ruining his big, important plan." He let out a quick laugh. "Ha! I was so happy when that lady came in and tried killin' him. I got a little exercise, and he still wouldn't let me go out and have some fun! And then he went and made me fix up his stupid church. I don't build things. I smash 'em!"

"Clearly," Harry replied. "So why listen to him now, or at all?"

The Berserker shrugged. "No choice really. He's the boss. I tried goin' out once when he wasn't around. Then BOOM, flash of light, and I'm not allow to leave the church unless he says so. Like he did to Lancer."

"Don't hold back you feelings," Harry quipped. "Tell me how you really feel."

"I know!" the Servant exclaimed. "What's the point in comin' here with the promise to beat some old heroes if I can't even go outside and kill them!"

The Berserker hefted his axe and slapped the haft into his other hand. "But now he says I can go and kill the remainin' Servants. So I hope you don't mind if I…" he paused for a moment, as if looking for the right word. "Indulge," he finally said.

"We don't have to do this, Tiny," Harry said. "It's not like you can use the Grail anyway. It's corrupted."

The Berserker shrugged. "It's not the first time I've used something that wasn't good for people. All I want is Vax back. It's not fair that he's gone. If I get stuck in another rock because of it, the others will just have to go and get me back."

Harry blinked at the oddly specific example. "Who are you?" he asked.

The Berserker widened his stance. "My name is Grog Strongjaw, member of Vox Machina."

Harry Dresden steeled himself against sudden dread as the name of the Servant before him unlocked the knowledge granted to him by the Holy Grail.

Vox Machina, the group of heroes from Exandria, who discovered ancient artifacts, who had sealed away a dark god, who had vanquished ancient dragons working in concert, and who otherwise just kicked ass on a daily basis. And this was their Berserker, the wielder of an ancient artifact that gave him access to primordial strength.

"Oh yeah," Harry replied. "This is not what I had in mind when I woke up this morning." He slammed his staff onto the ground next to him and called upon his Noble Phantasm one more time. _**"Changes!"**_

His friends came to his call, appearing next to him in a line and ready to commence battle. Murphy, Sanya, Thomas, Molly, and Mouse. Lea was apparently too powerful to come to his call, and Martin was just annoying. Susan…

Harry drew in a breath. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to summon Susan with his Noble Phantasm. Not after what he'd done to her.

"Alright," he said. "If you're looking for a fight, Grog Strongjaw. Then I'm willing to oblige. My name is Harry Dresden, the Winter Knight, warden of the White Council, and the guardian of the Well. Let's go!"

Everyone moved at the same. Molly vanished behind her best veil while Thomas and Mouse shot forward, each one going to a side, the vampire on the left and the foo dog to the right.

Murphy drew Fidelacchius, the japanese katana blazing into silver light, and Sanya drew Esperacchius, the cavalry saber joining the other Sword in blazing light. The two Swords of the Cross rang out with notes like bells, each one a different note in the same key.

Silver fire blazed from Harry's staff as he called on the soulfire given to him by Uriel. Even as he drew in his will to launch magic at the Berserker, a dazzling display of light and sound burned through the air and toward Grog in order to briefly blind him, buying the others the seconds they needed to close and engage.

Grog laughed with glee and slammed his fists together. _**"Titanstone Knuckles!"**_ he declared. The goliath grew in size until he was a dozen feet tall and his rippling muscles grew until they resembled the immovable stone of a mountain.

He brought his axe down in a mighty swing straight at Sanya and the black skinned Russian blocked the blow with Esperacchius. The two weapons rang out as they met and sparks flew from where steel met steel.

The group became a blur of motion and violence as his friends assaulted the monster that had attacked his Master.

Grog spun, driving everyone around him back to avoid being cut in half like a tree, everyone except Karrin Murphy. She ducked the wide swing and hopped back to her feet and slashed the Berserker in the leg with the blazing katana in her hands.

Thomas was back to his original position in the blink of an eye. He leapt onto the counter of Shirou's unrepaired kitchen and swung his own sword down at Grog's neck. Mouse leapt at the same time and tore at Grog's leg with his jaws. Both strikes met their target, and then Grog grabbed Thomas by a leg, moving faster than anyone of his size should, and hurled the white court vampire across the living room like he was a rag doll and kicking himself free of Mouse's jaws.

Grog didn't even seem to notice the injuries that had been inflicted on him and he began to laugh as he swung his axe in counter attacks of his own.

That was when the true meaning behind the class of Berserker really struck him. Hercules had been savagery and power, a truly unstoppable force behind devastating sword technique and training.

Grog was nothing but insane and barely restrained strength. With his every motion, he destroyed the house around him, causing wood and paneling to shatter and go flying around him.

Every missed blow of his axe created a small crater in the ground, and the rushing air from his attacks promised immediate bifurcation to any being made of mere flesh and bone that got in the way of the attack.

His eyes were the give away. The mad light that had began to shine in them the instant violence had started left no doubt. Whatever else Grog Strongjaw might be, he was a a warrior lost in simple madness, but one who could channel it and invoke it at will.

"Molly!" Harry shouted. "Keep him blind! We can't let him hit anyone!"

Molly's voice rang out from empty air and then Grog blinked his eyes rapidly in confusion.

Harry lifted his staff and snarled: _"Fozarre!"_. The hellfire infused spell slammed into Grog's chest with enough force to flip a car. Grog took a half step back from the impact and then barreled forward in a charge that shattered the table sitting in the middle of the living room.

Harry leapt to one side and barely managed to dodge the bullrush that was more like an oncoming train than a tackle.

 _"Fuego!"_ he said, as soon as he was away and pulling his blasting rod. A lance of blue-white fire shot from the rod and struck Grog in the back, and Harry could smell burning meat.

Grog howled in anger and spun to face Harry's general direction again and stopping short of the hellfire barrier created by the Sign around them. Before he could take another step, Murphy, Thomas, Sanya, and Mouse reached him and began to coordinate their attacks on him, playing wolfpack to Grog's bear.

The Berserker's size was his greatest weakness. By making himself larger, he made himself nearly impossible to miss, even if the increase did boost his strength.

Every one of his blows damaged large swaths of the living room, but they had large openings that could be exploited by the allies Harry had called to his side. Add that to his blindness, imposed by Molly's veil over his eyes, and Grog was simply creating debris rather than corpses.

Harry pointed his staff at Grog again. _"Infriga!"_ he shouted. Ice formed over the goliath's limbs, though the layer of cold seemed to do little to affect him or his movements.

"Harry!" Molly shouted. As he turned toward the sound of her voice, he managed to see his apprentice fall to the ground and fade away. A red, t-shaped, hilt dropped to the ground from her back as she faded away.

They weren't alone in the sign. As Molly faded away, Grog's vision returned and his attacks began hitting with greater accuracy, forcing Murphy and the others to start evading more and more.

Despite the numerous wounds spread all over the Berserker, he simply wouldn't stop fighting or even slow down.

Harry focused his senses on a point at the center of his forehead, opening his Wizard's Sight.

As the flows of energy became visible to his senses, he spotted a figure hiding under some sort of veiling magic of his own. Normally, anyone under a veil would become visible under the Sight, however, this man wasn't. He was a walking corpse under the Sight. A blackened and stained skeleton with a burning black heart that dripped mud, bent and twisted by quiet madness. Mud that was terrifyingly similar to the mud caked around the Greater Grail.

Harry leveled his staff at the hidden figure and prepared to unleash hellfire at the man. But, Grog slammed one fist into the ground with so much force that the floor rippled in a wave that knocked Harry's aim off at the last second, forcing his spell to blow a head sized hole in the wall just above the hidden figure's own head.

With a curse, Harry aimed again and then felt Thomas slam into him from another throw, knocking him across the living room.

The weight of Thomas' prone form vanished as he too died and faded from the world. A moment later, Grog hurled the axe he was carrying through the air and managed to score a hit on Mouse, who had backed away for a moment.

The foo dog let out a pained yelp and then also faded away. Grog yanked on a chain in his hand and the axe flew back to him.

Harry rose to his feet, fury burning through him and he moved to get into a better position to fire, and stumbled as he tried to move. He glanced behind him and saw another red-hilted weapon stabbed into the ground behind him, pinning his shadow into place.

With his Sight open, he could see the magic that bound him to where he stood like chains wrapped around his shadow's legs from the weapon. He glanced around wildly for the man who he'd seen a moment ago, but couldn't find him anywhere.

With a snarl of frustration, Harry ripped the weapon from the ground and his shadow and the spell broke. Whoever it had been, Grog's Master probably, must have fled the scene into another part of the house that was trapped within the sign.

The barrier of Hellfire wasn't going to last that much longer, which meant he'd be able to pull in more power from the world around him, rather than rely on the energy he'd drawn in before he'd used his Noble Phantasm to raise the sign.

As Grog traded blows with Sanya and managed to slay the Russian Knight, Harry realized that he wasn't going to last long enough for the sign to fall.

He had to kill Grog now, and… there was only one act of magic he knew that stood a chance of pulling that feat off.

No matter how much damage the berserker received, he still fought as if he was unharmed, which meant that he had a level of toughness that was a league of its own. His own damage output, while impressive, wasn't going to be enough to take the Berserker down if he spread it out over the course of a battle.

Which meant that he had to release all that energy in one, concentrated burst.

Grog slew Murphy as Harry closed his eyes and his Sight. Neither of them were going to be needed anymore.

"I'm sorry, Rin," Harry whispered. At the thought of his Master, he recalled the moment when they'd first truly understood each other. The moment that was burned indelibly into both of their minds.

Time seemed to stop as he remembered the shape of Rin Tohsaka's soul.

* * *

Harry heard the tolling of a bell in the distance. He stood inside a well lit study, the room given light from the three windows on the wall behind him. The walls were panelled with wood and bookshelves, which were lined neatly in sections around him. The books were all dry texts about magecraft and magical lineage, politics and treatises, mathematics and literature. Other shelves held devices of obscure purpose and intriguing design.

He stood behind a desk of rich wood, a functional and comfortable chair behind it. A short table stood perpendicular to the desk, flanked by a pair of comfortable couches.

Overall, the room resembled the one where he'd first met Rin in, except for the subtle changes.

There was a hook hidden on the back of the chair, placed at the right position and angle to hang a long jacket. Harry smirked when he saw that.

The desk had more pictures than the original. One was of a man he instinctively knew to be Rin's father, dressed immaculately and sitting in a chair in his study facing toward the camera. He was smiling a father's smile, his eyes glittering with light and life. A woman stood next to him, her body conformed along his in a familial posture. Her hair was long and green and she had a similar smile to Rin's father. The base of the frame had a golden plate, with something etched upon it in a flowing, elegant script. _Mother and Father._

Another was of a group of girls, three of them all clumped together and clearly having a good time and another slightly away from them and smiling into the camera. One of them had dark skin and hair, a wide smile on her face as she enthusiastically wrapped her arms around her companions' shoulders. The one on the left had long, silver hair, glasses, and looked far more reserved, but there was the hint of a smile on her face. The one on the right had short, auburn hair and a small, but happy smile on her face. She was a font of childlike glee that helped counterpoint the other two emotional extremes. The fourth girl, who he recognized as Ayako Mitsuzuri, had brown hair and had her arms crossed in front of her with a small confident smile on her face. The plate under that picture read: _Friends._

The third picture was of Sakura. She stood in a park, the sky a brilliant, clear blue. The girl was in her school uniform, her head tilted to one side, eyes closed, and smiling happily. Her hair was billowing to one side in a breeze, as was her skirt. The plate under her picture read: _Sister Sakura._

One final picture showed Shirou, standing on a stone pier by the river. He was in his usual shirt and jeans, leaning against a railing and smiling. Shirou looked… relaxed, and happy in a way Harry had never seen him before. The plate under his picture simply read: _Him._

Harry stepped up to the desk and opened the nearest drawer. There were only three objects inside. A glittering red heart-shaped gem on a silver chain. The gem she had used to help save Shirou's life. The one she had left behind and Archer had returned to her. Unlike then, it now shone and rippled with light.

A dagger rested horizontally at the top of the drawer. It was of exquisite make, and the pommel of the weapon held a gem that radiated with power as well. He recognized it as an Azoth dagger. A ceremonial weapon passed from master to apprentice mages upon graduation.

The third object was a surprise to him. It was a silver pentacle and chain like his own. A ruby was set in its center, this too radiating with stored power.

Harry smiled.

The room was completely Rin, right down to the very last detail. Organized, functional, full of dignity and pride, both in herself and as a mage. And it showed her one real 'weakness', at least in the eyes of mages.

It showed that she cared and it showed that she cared about the things that truly mattered. She was a worthy practitioner of the Art. She wasn't a mage. She was a wizard in his eyes. She was what a wizard should be. What the members of the Council should be. What the Association should be.

He was proud to call her his Master.

* * *

Harry reached into himself and pulled out every scrap of power in his body, the final resource every wizard could use when the reaper's scythe came for them.

Grog faced Harry, his eyes alright with madness and rage. But he had enough of his mind left to hesitate for a second as he felt the power building in Harry.

Harry gave Grog a sharp smile. _"Grog Strongjaw,"_ he intoned, his voice booming with the magic surging through him. He made sure to say the Name exactly right, just as Grog himself had, so that he could reach out and touch the Berserker in front of him with his power.

The energy was ready, and Harry prepared the final step in his final act of the fifth Holy Grail War.

 _ **"I,"**_ Harry declared. _**"Am Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Grog Strongjaw: Face Oblivion!"**_

And with those words, Harry unleashed his Death Curse, a spell infused with every piece of energy that kept a mortal body alive, that could give a wizard his strength, laced with the cold power of the Winter mantle, and every single piece of Hellfire he could muster and hurled it at the Berserker standing before him.

As the energy left him and he began to disappear, Harry smirked as he thought of what else he'd like to say, just before he left. Two short words, and just a touch of something greater than himself, and then he was gone.

Satellite photos later culled by the Church revealed a thermal bloom that lit up the thermal imaging lens like an overly decorated and burning christmas tree and a mushroom cloud that could be seen for over 5 miles in every direction. The magical conflagration also created a neighborhood wide power outage that took over 48 hours to repair. Reports also stated that the smell of sulfur was present in the air for over 6 hours after the explosion, and was later used to partially explain the events of later that night.

* * *

 **Author's note: And now, the final piece is completely in play. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Grog Strongjaw. Shoutout to Knight of Fate for figuring it out. And with that, ends Harry Dresden. Do insurance companies cover for total annihilation by way of magic?  
I'm sorry about the delay. We ran into a timing snag getting everything put together. But, that's all fixed now and the story can pick back up. At least we got a nice, action-packed chapter for this week to kick everything back into motion.**

 **Knight of Fate: I hope the battle was everything you hoped for. Grog's pretty simple to write when it comes to combat. Simple, but very hard to stop thanks to his abilities. Do you think a Hellfire nuke was overkill, cause I can't really think of much else that could stop him cold. I'm glad you've been enjoying the story and I hope you have just as much fun with what is still to come.**

 **1eragon33: Oh, yeah, there'll be consequences to that. And I'd love to see the Association** _ **try**_ **to stop Shirou with the improved arsenal he's got. Magecraft is basically useless against the Master Sword. Same goes for the Warden swords he got from Dresden.**

 **Thank you all so much for coming with me on this journey and for giving me your support. Whether you've been reading this since day one, or have just picked it up today, thank you. Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me, and they really are helping me stay strong.  
** **This is endgame. The stage is set. The battles are just about ready. The story is coming to its conclusion. It's time to end this War, and I hope to see you all there.  
** **Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! I love hearing from you all and Warden Myst and I are more than willing to field questions in PMs.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	82. Chapter 81

**Chapter 81**

 _Son, everyone dies alone. That's what it is, it's a door. It's one person wide. When you go through it, you do it alone. But it doesn't mean that you gotta be alone before you go through it._ \- Malcolm Dresden, _Dead Beat_

Shirou stared at the rising mushroom cloud he could see forming over Miyama and couldn't think of anything to say. Rin panted from the effort of her sprint.

"What was that?" Link asked, amazed.

"Harry," Rin said, her voice hollow. She closed her eyes and looked away for a moment before she opened them and turned to face Shirou. "We don't have much time. Hopefully Harry took out Berserker with that explosion, which means all we have left is Lancer and Gilgamesh. We need to get back and figure out what we're going to do about the Grail."

"Slow down, Rin," Saber said. "Lancer is gone. And his Master is-"

"Kirei," Rin said, cutting Saber off. "I know."

"How?" Shirou asked, then shook his head. "No, of course you do. He probably went to my house after he was done with us."

"Correct," Rin replied. "I left a familiar watching your place, what's now left of it, anyway, when I ran to find you. Kirei's just left with Illya, which means he survived that explosion." She suddenly grimaced. "And now he's killed it, so I don't know anything else. I don't know about Barnett, or Illya's maids, so we need to check on them right now.

"If Lancer is gone, then the Grail is just about ready to activate. That means he'll go to the temple."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Link asked. "Let's go."

"Wait!" Rin said, finally straightening. "Emiya, you need to pour all of your resources into supporting Saber, which means you'll have to transfer Link to someone else."

"Why?" Shirou asked. "I've done well so far."

Rin shook her head. "Yes, you've done well with both of them, but if we're going to coordinate an attack against _Gilgamesh_ and Kirei, it'll be better if you have only one Servant to support. The difference in ability will only be marginal, but I want us to have every advantage we can get. So give Link to me."

"Shouldn't you stay back?" Shirou asked and immediately regretted it.

Rin's eyes went hard. "I'm not letting Kirei get away with this," she told Shirou, her tone arctic. "And I'll be more effective if I have an additional tool at my disposal."

Shirou raised his hands. "Okay," he said. "I see your point. Kirei won't expect you to bring a Servant into the fight." He took a deep breath. "So, how do we do this?"

"Just use _Rulebreaker_ ," Rin instructed. "That will get the job done fast and then we can go."

"Are you okay with this, Link?" Shirou asked.

Link shrugged. "Rin has a point. Even if it is mostly the Grail that supports us Secondary Servants, there is probably some small fraction of your power that is still coming to me. That energy would be better spent toward your projections or boosting Saber. Rin's a powerhouse, I'll be a more effective weapon in her hands right now than yours."

Shirou glanced at Saber, who only nodded her agreement.

"Alright then," Shirou said and closed his eyes. _"Trace on."_

The twisted dagger of Medea flashed into his hand with a burst of silver light. Then he handed the weapon to Rin. "Just like Caster did to Saber," he told Rin. "The weapon will help you do the rest."

Rin nodded and took the dagger. Then she thrust the blade into Link's chest.

Link stiffened with the impact and then let out a sudden scream of pain as his contract with Shirou was forcibly moved to Rin. The blue Command Seals on the back of Shirou's right hand were yanked away and transferred to Rin's empty left hand, appearing over where Archer's Seals had once been.

Link, however, suddenly grabbed his head and began twitching violently. Small grunt left him as he started to twitch and shake more violently.

"Link?" Shirou and Rin asked at the same time.

Then the triforce on the back of Link's left hand blazed into blinding, golden light. An instant later, Shirou and Rin's vision cleared and the stared at the Servant before them.

Link relaxed and straightened. "Well," he said, his voice sounding much higher and younger. "That was interesting."

The hylian's height had changed, becoming shorter than he'd been before and instead of the Master Sword resting on his back, there was a simpler blade in its place. On his belt now hung a white mask along side the various pouches.

"What…" Shirou said, unable to complete the sentence.

"How?" Rin asked, apparently just as dumbstruck.

Link rolled his eyes. "I reincarnate," he said. "Remember? I guess this form," he gestured at his much younger body. "Better suits Rin than the last one did. I don't control this."

"Has anything else… changed?" Rin asked.

"Not really," Link answered as he examined himself. "My primary Noble Phantasm is different, but it won't affect my ability to fight and operate. In fact, I think it's slightly more powerful. Otherwise, I'm still me. And we don't have time to stand around. Let's go."

* * *

They finally reached Shirou's house to find it in complete chaos. Emergency services were swarming around the blast site like ants, creating a cordon and checking for anyone who was injured and making sure that there wouldn't be a fire. The lack of power was making everything harder and a general sense of panic hovered in the air.

Blocked from checking on the house and not knowing what else to do, Rin took them to her own house to prepare and to let Shirou fully recover from his wound before their assault on Ryuudou temple.

Shirou and Saber settled in her living room, while Link and Rin went down into her workshop to discuss their situation and get a few things.

The pain in Shirou's chest had died down considerably and the injury inflicted by Lancer was almost completely gone.

"What should we do, Shirou?" Saber asked.

"Let's make a plan," he answered after a long moment. "We're going to need one to take down Gilgamesh."

"Alright," Saber said. She paused for a moment. "What do you think we should try? We already know he can overpower my Noble Phantasm, and even though you could possibly try to match him in weapons, his own weapons will, by their very nature, be more numerous and more powerful than your own.

"I'm confident that I can beat him in swordsmanship, but he won't participate in a fair fight unless he has no choice."

They fell silent as they thought. Time passed and the pain finally faded from Shirou's wound as it completely healed.

Shirou took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "There's only one thing I can think of that might give us a chance," he admitted. "And Rin's right, we need every advantage we can get."

"What is it, Shirou?"

"The sheath of Excalibur makes its bearer virtually invulnerable, right?" Shirou asked. "So if you're going to fight Gilgamesh, then you're going to need its protection far more than I will."

"But, Shirou," Saber said. "If you divest yourself of the sheath's protection, you'll become far more vulnerable to harm. You'll be more likely to die."

Shirou glanced down and smiled mirthlessly. "I know," he said. "It's funny. Everyone's spent so much time trying to convince me to be more selfish and take care of myself. And now that I finally have something to be selfish about, a reason to stay alive, I have to give up the one thing that's likely to do that in order to help everyone else."

Saber shared his smile. "It is ironic," she admitted.

Shirou met Saber's eyes. "It's okay," he told her. "'Dying to save someone is one of the greatest expressions of faith and love I've ever seen. It's never something you do needlessly, but sometimes that's what it takes.'"

Saber gave Shirou a concerned look. "It's something Harry said," he admitted. "To Archer while you were unconscious after killing Rider. He told me not to jump in front of every bullet that flew by me, but that I'd know the one that was needed." He closed his hands into fists. "I don't want to die, even if I now know that I've survived these years because of the sheath, but if falling here means we can destroy the Holy Grail and save everyone in Fuyuki, then I think that I should take that risk."

"Are you sure?" Saber asked, her voice very quiet.

Shirou reached out and laid one hand on Saber's. "Of course I'm sure," he said, his voice gentle. "Everyone dies, Saber. I've been living on borrowed time, and if I want to live, I should do it with my own power. But, I promise you this. With you fighting by my side, I know I'll survive, my King."

Saber's eyes shone. "And with you standing beside me," she replied. "I know I will survive, my Knight." Saber nodded her head. "All right then, let's begin."

Shirou closed his eyes and tried to picture the scabbard implanted within his body. He reached out with his mind and spread his awareness through every particle of his being, finding the piece of the sheath spread throughout his body and maintaining his form and health.

Time passed and the image of the sheath coalesced within his thoughts. _"Trace on,"_ he murmured without conscious thought. The tracing process took the image in his mind and compared to it the reality, confirming that he had, indeed, found the sheath. Then, with just a tiny force of will, he pushed it out of himself.

Golden light shone onto his closed eyelids for an eternal second, before it faded away once again.

"It is done, Shirou," Saber said.

Shirou opened his eyes meeting hers. They simply stared at each other until the living room door opened and Rin said, "It's time, Emiya."

* * *

No one spoke as they made their way toward the temple. Everyone there knew that this would be a battle for their very lives. It kept the mood solemn and serious. As they finally reached the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the temple on the mountain, the silence was finally broken by Saber.

"The mana concentrating at the temple is just as thick as it was ten years ago," she said. "The Grail is beginning to manifest."

"Then we don't have much time," Link said. "The longer we wait, the more likely the Grail is to appear and the less likely we'll be able to bring Illya back alive."

"Remember the plan," Rin said. "Saber and Link will go and fight Gilgamesh, while Shirou and I will take on Kirei. Whichever group finishes first will move to support the other." She glanced around at everyone. "We fight, we win, and then Shirou makes us all breakfast in the morning. Right?"

"Right," Saber and Link said. Shirou simply smiled.

They made their way up the stairs, the night sky shining red with the light from the manifesting Holy Grail. Power poured from the path ahead, so thick that it created a haze in the air around them.

As they reached the top of the hill the figure that awaited them was not something they had expected.

Just below the gate leading into the temple grounds, the place where Assassin had once stood, shrouded by moonlight, was a modest crater and the hulking form of the second Berserker.

"No way," Rin gasped. "He survived that explosion?"

The Berserker cracked his neck and eyed the four of them. His gaze settled on Rin. "Your wizard," he said to her, his tone conversational. "Almost got me. I respect that. And out of respect for him, I will let you go past. Kirei is expectin' you. But I have been told that I have to stop the Sabers from gettin' to the Grail."

"You don't understand," Link said. "The Grail won't work for you. It's corrupted."

The Berserker shook his head. "I have to try," he said. "I just want my friend back. The Grail is the only way to get him back. I've touched darkness before. I might be able to use it. Failin' that," he ran his hand along three rods attached to his belt. "I might be able to use these on it."

Silence fell around them as Saber and Link eyed the Berserker blocking their path. The simple fact that he'd survived a detonation that should have killed just about any Servant spoke volumes about his ability to fight and withstand damage. If they fought him here, where he had the height, weight, and space advantage, then Gilgamesh could rip them apart even if they succeeded.

"Go," Link said, taking a step forward.

"Link?" Rin asked.

"I'll defeat him," he said. "Then I'll catch up. The plan will still work without me. So go."

"But," Rin started to protest.

"There's no time for this," Link snapped. "The longer we wait, the less likely we are to succeed. So go. I'll be right behind you."

"Fine," Rin said. "But if you get yourself killed, I'll kill you."

"Understood, Master," Link said with a smirk.

Carefully, Saber, Shirou, and Rin made their way around the Berserker and into the open courtyard of the temple.

"You didn't try to stop them?" Link asked. "I'm surprised."

The Berserker shrugged. "I like kids," he said. "I didn' want to hurt them, and goldie's still here. He wanted to take Saber anyway."

"You were partnered with Lancer, right?" Link asked. The Berserker nodded. "He wanted me to give you a message. Before he died, said he wanted you to know that he was sorry he couldn't have that real drink with you."

The Berserker lowered his head for a moment. "Damn, Kirei," he grunted. "Always stoppin' us heroes from having any real fun."

Link smiled knowingly and drew his sword and shield. "I'd love to chat with you some more," he said. "But I'm on a tight schedule. Are you ready?"

"Nearly," the Berserker answered. "I just want to know your name, first, kid."

"I am Link, the reincarnating hero of Hyrule."

"My name is Grog Strongjaw, member of Vox Machina."

"Then let's fight."

Grog roared.

* * *

Their next obstacle stood at the far end of the temple courtyard. Gilgamesh wore his golden armor and a condescending smile as the three of them approached.

"There you are, Saber," he said. "I was getting tired of waiting for you. Your timing is impeccable. The portal to the Holy Grail has just begun to open."

Saber readied her sword. "Tell me, Gilgamesh. What do you think you will gain by this?"

"I thought I made that perfectly clear, Saber. My only wish is for you." Golden portals appeared behind the King of Heroes and weapons began to sprout from the gates. "I've had quite a long time to think about this moment, Saber. About what I would do if you refused to join me with this curse that has given me form in this world for ten years. I've longed to see that defiled expression on your face. How you'd break and grovel at my feet."

"If that is your wish," Saber said. "Then I hope you don't mind if deliver that fate unto you."

Gilgamesh laughed. "You have quite the spirit for someone who knows they cannot best me. But it's certainly fitting for this occasion. A recreation of that night ten years ago, before we were so rudely stopped by your Master."

His slitted, red eyes moved toward Shirou and Rin. "If you two have business with Kotomine," he told them. "Then he awaits you at the back of the temple." His gaze locked onto Shirou. "I am disappointed that I will not be the one to end your miserable life, thief, but a King knows when to properly delegate a task, even if he wishes to carry it out himself." His gaze shifted to Rin. "And I believe Kotomine has some very special news for you, little girl. It would be best if you hurried to him, before fate makes that task more difficult."

Rin and Shirou ran past them, Shirou holding back his anger, Rin burying a flash of dread and fear.

* * *

The back of the temple had a large pond that legend said held a sleeping dragon. The lake, dragon or not, was completely covered with a black pool of mud, dripping from a gaping portal in the air above it.

Illya hung suspended in the air before it, naked and unconscious.

"I'm glad that you were able to join me, Shirou Emiya," Kirei said, his voice very near joyful. "And you as well Rin, that is good."

Kotomine stood on the shore of the pond, his long jacket rippling in the breeze that passed by. The priest was smiling as he spoke, and Shirou found the expression disconcerting, largely because the scene around them was devoid of anything that should spawn a smile.

He fixed his attention upon Rin. "You should be very proud of your Caster, Rin. He made me waste three Command Seals. Two to keep myself and the Grail vessel alive, and a third to help bring my Berserker into something resembling proper fighting shape. I don't believe the world has ever seen such destructive power before, apart from the damage wrought by the Grail in the last War."

"Humph," Rin grunted. "I just wish that it had killed you too, Kirei."

Kirei's smile widened. "Such fire," he said. "There is such a striking difference between you and your father. He was always so much more reserved than you. He never could bring himself to lash out like you can. Even at the very end, he never once showed a temper."

"What did you say?" Rin demanded.

"Did Gilgamesh not convey that I had something to tell you? I made sure to give him specific instructions on that point."

"Quit dodging the question, Kirei!" Rin snapped.

"Very well then. Now that we have reached the end, I feel it only proper to confess my sins. You see, Gilgamesh was not originally my Servant in the previous Grail War. I was forced to find another Servant when my own was eliminated from the battle, as Tokiomi had instructed."

Rin shook with emotion as she stood rooted to the spot, paralyzed by Kirei's words. The priest knew the effect his speech was having and clearly reveled in it.

"You told me that you had deciphered your father's will back when this War began," Kirei continued. "Tell me, did you find anything unusual in what your father left you?"

"A broken catalyst," Rin answered, her tone both frustrated and apprehensive.

"Based on your response you clearly have not realized what that catalyst is," Kirei said. "As your guardian, allow me to fill the gap in your knowledge. It was a fossil of the very first snake skin."

All of the color drained from Rin's face. Then her body began to shake with incandescent fury. "You bastard!" she screamed. "You killed him, didn't you?! After he put his trust in you and taught you, you killed him!"

Rin's arm blurred as she raised it and unleashed a gandr shot so powerful that it seemed to split the air around it and leave completely empty space in its wake.

The curse was so fast that it seemed impossible to dodge, but Kotomine shifted his position just slightly enough to cause the spell to miss its target.

"I believe your father taught you to have dignity in all things," he commented, the disturbing smile still on his face.

"Rin!" Shirou shouted just before she attacked or made any movement toward Kirei. It almost seemed like she didn't hear him, but Rin hesitated at the force of Shirou's shout.

He leapt on the opening that pause gave him. "He's trying to rile you up! Force you to play this out his way!" He turned his gaze toward the priest. "Don't let him get to you. He's going to get what's coming for him, I promise. But you need to keep a level head."

Rin took a long, shuddering breath and then she adjusted her stance into something more stable, but her shoulders were still tense with emotion.

"So this is to be the final battle between Masters of the Holy Grail War," Kirei said. "The final two opposing Masters, one the child of the man I killed, and one the child of the man who tried to kill me. There is a certain poetry to this."

"Let Illya go," Shirou told Kirei.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Shirou Emiya. The portal may now be open, but it is far from stable. As the point of connection, she must endure this as long as there is life left within her."

"That wasn't request, Kotomine," Shirou said. _"Trace on."_

With twin flashes of silver fire, the Master Sword appeared in Shirou's left hand while Amoracchius appeared in his right.

As the two blades appeared, each began to glow with light, one with golden sunlight, and one with silver fire, and the oppressive atmosphere seemed to dissipate from around Shirou.

"I said to let her go."

* * *

 **Author's note: And we have our final battles ready to go. The fifth Holy Grail war is coming to a close. And Shirou is not the helpless mage he was in the original Fate timeline.**

 **Okay, so apparently Grog was a more exotic Servant than I'd counted on. I'm not completely surprised, though. For a quick primer: Grog Strongjaw hails from the world of Exandria, the setting of the D &D stream Critical Role. Grog is a Berserker played by Travis Willingham in campaign one. Harry's realization of who he is from last chapter covers a handful of the exploits of the group of heroes Vox Machina, whose resume is even longer than that. It's an amazing series, available on both YouTube and on podcast.**

 **Savagemaster1999: I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter. I'm sorry you didn't know Grog.**

 **Knight of Fate: Vox Machina is just made of scary Secondary Servants, when you think about it. I might have several of them converted into Servants just for fun. The big thing about Secondary Servants is that many of them have track records that are bigger than even some primary Servants. So, as a result, they're more powerful. Vox Machina is certainly a group that lends itself to becoming powerful Servants.  
And I don't think Shirou has anyone to worry about when it comes to the guy under the veil. Not with the weaponry Shirou's currently wielding. :) Although I am curious who you think was under it.**

 **PasiveNox: Glad you enjoyed it, although I really wasn't making an endgame joke.**

 **1eragon33: Sorry, but Servants have to go. That's really the great tragedy of the Grail war. So many amazing Servants and they all have to disappear eventually. Yeah, I'd say Grog's story is pretty good.  
Oh, and look over last week's chapter again. Just… because.**

 **Our journey is almost over. This is endgame. Thank you all so much for everything. The views, favorites, follows, and reviews. Thank you all for your praise, criticism, and simple, silent support. This story has been a blast to work on and I hope we can continue this journey right to the end. Thank you.  
Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! If you have questions, Warden Myst and I are willing to answer them in PMs.  
Thanks for reading!**


	83. Chapter 82

**Chapter 82**

 _You hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your death._ \- Agent Smith, _The Matrix_

Link charged up the stairs with a battle cry, his young voice not lacking in the power that his older form had contained. He swung his sword and the weapon met with the massive head of Grog's axe.

The force of the impact ran through the entirety of Link's body and the sheer power behind the blow forced Link away from his target and back down the stairs.

Link went into a roll to gain some more ground and he lifted his sword and shield to prepare to attack once again.

Grog reached into a bag that hung at his side and pulled out a javelin. Then he lifted the weapon, said a word that sounded like 'penelope' and hurled it down the stairs.

Link leapt to the side as the javelin transformed and a bolt of lightning blasted its way down the stairs toward him. The narrowness of the stairway made the evasion difficult, but his now smaller size helped tip the balance in his favor.

Link crouched on the stairs, sword drawn and eyes questing for a weakness he could exploit.

Grog stood at the top of the stairs, his hulking form blocking any chance of slipping past him to get near Saber or Rin's own conflicts. They'd spent the last few minutes feeling out their respective skills and equipment.

He now had an appreciation for the effort Saber had to give when chasing him and Shirou after Caster had kidnapped him to the temple.

Grog was nowhere near as skilled a swordsman as Assassin had been, but he made up for that deficiency in sheer power, reach, and mass, which was probably why there was a crater where Assassin should have been standing. Basic combat theory held that in a contest between a skilled large man and a skilled small man, the large man won pretty much every time.

Link wasn't much taller than 4 feet, while Grog was, on his own, twice that tall. After he had invoked his Noble Phantasm, _**Titanstone Knuckles**_ , he'd grown to be 12 feet in height with a reach to match.

Since then, he'd used his axe to drive Link back down the stairs leading to the temple and had used other weapons and items to keep him at a distance, such as the javelin he'd just thrown down the stair way.

If he was going to survive, he had to tip the balance back in his favor. Link could theoretically match the level of equipment that Grog likely had access to, but the advantages the Berserker held still tipped the balance toward him, namely his ability to simply take in damage. Which meant that he had to increase his damage output as much as he could.

Link reached down and pulled the white mask off of his belt and placed it on his face. _**"Fierce Deity's Mask,"**_ he declared. Power flowed through his body, creating blinding light. His body grew until it reached his adult form. His sword changed, becoming a large, two handed sword with a twisting blade that came to a razor sharp point.

In the brief pause of confusion from Grog, Link spun and unleashed a blast of power back up the stairs to his opponent.

Grog reached into a bag that hung on his side once again and pulled out a large sword of his own and met the beam of power with the black blade of the sword.

There was a blast as the weapon and energy met and the power Link had unleashed scattered away from the sword. Link grimaced.

"Of all the times to not have the Master Sword," he muttered. The Blade of Evil's Bane could shatter or overwhelm nearly any weapon, especially those touched by darkness, such as the one Grog was currently holding. "Rin, you messed up."

Grog leveled the sword at Link and a point of darkness appeared at the tip and began to grow and crackle with increasing power.

"Oh crap," Link said and lifted the Fierce Deity's Blade before himself. He quickly considered activating his shield, but decided against it. It would take a moment for the barrier to drop once it had stopped the attack, a time gap Link didn't trust when the stakes were this high.

A black beam of magic blasted from the tip of Grog's sword and Link charged the Berserker, swinging his sword in a mighty strike. The energy of Grog's attack slammed into Link's sword and the attacks locked together in a struggle. Link's expression grew hard and he tried to adjust his footing to gain purchase.

Color seemed to fade around him and the coiling power of the magical assault continued to press against his sword, but didn't appear to be gaining any advantage over him either.

Link adjusted his stance again, and then threw himself back and to the side, keeping his sword between him and the blast of dark power. The spell shot down the stairs and away from Link and then the area grew dark.

He glanced up and barely managed to leap down the stairs as Grog landed where he'd been standing, stabbing the sword into the stone stairs as if they'd been made of paper. Then he lashed out and slammed his massive fist into Link's airborne form, driving Link further down the stairway.

Link rolled down the stairs, grunting with pain as he skipped off of them before he managed to make himself stop.

He slowly climbed to his feet and looked back up the stairs to see Grog performing another spectacular leap toward him.

 _What is he thinking?_ Link thought. _He's going to lose the high ground at this rate._

Link got his feet under him and blocked the next strike from Grog with his own sword. Sparks popped from the two swords as the two warriors pressed on each other. The Goliath's hulking form leaned forward and Link was forced to take one step back, then another, and another.

Then, the triforce on the back of Link's hand blazed into golden light and the familiar weight of the golden gauntlets came to his arms. Suddenly the pressure from Grog's press became far weaker, but it was still stronger than his own.

Link adjusted his position and managed to force Grog's sword away from him and giving enough space to leap further down the stairs.

"Goddesses you're strong," he said. "I didn't think there was a being alive that could overcome the gauntlets." He pulled the ocarina from a pouch on his belt and quickly pressed it to his lips and began to play.

The tune was familiar, a song he'd always understand, even if he was playing it backwards.

Grog moved to attack him again and his movements suddenly became slower, as if the Berserker was moving through water.

Link let go of the ocarina and charged forward. He easily dodged the incoming strike, but instead of counter attacking, he leapt up and onto the enormous Berserker's shoulder before hopping down behind him and running for the top of the stairs.

He felt it when the power of the song he'd played ended and he dodged to one side just in time to avoid a hammer flying through the air toward him. The hammer slammed into the ground where he'd been standing a second earlier and then flew back toward Grog.

Link turned and readied his sword, a smile spreading across his face. Grog glowered at him from down the stairs.

"That's not fair," he complained.

Link shrugged. "Hey, I'm just trying to get out of this fight alive," he said. "I'll use whatever I have to gain the advantage."

Grog put away his sword and withdrew his axe once again. Link readied his own sword. He couldn't make his way to Saber, not with the Berserker at his back. If he wanted to help Saber, he had to end this fight.

Then Grog did something Link hadn't expected. He slammed one fist into the stone staircase with so much force that the ground seemed to roll like it was a wave.

Link didn't think. Acting on reflex, he leapt into the air straight toward the Berserker. Grog spun his axe up and blocked the blow and the two of them began to exchange blows with blurring speed. Link was the faster striker, but Grog's blows hit with far more power.

The trees around them twisted and swayed with the power of the exchanged strikes and Link swore he heard some of them fall.

 _He's so strong,_ Link thought, ducking under an attack and leaping up the stairs to gain higher ground. _And his size is stopping me from using the height advantage._

Link swung his sword several times, unleashing a barrage of spinning energy attacks down the stairs.

Grog roared and charged up the stairs, simply weathering the barrage in order to try and land a powerful blow.

As the axe swung down, Link blocked it with his sword. Then he felt something ram into his side.

Pain shot through Link and he gasped before stumbling back and placing a hand on his injury. One of the three rods that had been hanging on Grog's belt was now stabbed into his side.

The shaft of metal was a deep black and Link could feel the power that radiated from the metal. It seeped into his body and fought against the divine strength granted to him by the mask he wore. He could feel it pulling away from his limbs, making his sword heavier, his body slightly slower, and while the wound hurt, it didn't appear to deal any real damage.

"What did you do?" Link asked, lifting his sword.

"Percy and I made 'em," Grog answered with a smile. "Made it easier to stop Vecna."

Link grimaced. Vecna was the dark god that the group of heroes, Vox Machina, had sealed away using their combined strength. If what Grog had stabbed him with was an object meant to aid in their goal, then it was going to make his job even harder.

He needed the mask to match Grog's strength, and the rod imbedded in him could very well interfere with his attempts to use the ocarina, if he tried again.

He had to outthink the Berserker, not overpower him. But would he not expect? What could he do to get in close enough to land a killing blow against a Servant that had survived the explosion Dresden had created? It had to be something simple. Something small and clever. And he had to think of it quickly, or Saber was going to have another problem on her hands.

* * *

Sparks flew as the two swords clashed and the golden archer gave ground. Saber leapt forward, capitalizing on the retreat. Swords fired toward her and she weaved around them as she tried to press her attack.

Just as her sword reached him, another weapon came from a golden portal and blocked her blow, buying Gilgamesh the moment he needed to fall back.

"You are endlessly persistent, aren't you?" he asked, casually taking a new weapon into his hand from a portal that appeared next to him.

His unmarred armor shone in the light that emitted from the gate and the King of Heroes' smile had never faltered once in the assault that had come down upon him.

Saber's strategy had been straightforward. She had to annihilate the enemy Servant before he decided to unleash the destructive power of Ea. So she had charged and fought with all of her might, while Gilgamesh seemed content to humor her by holding weapons himself to fight, using the Gate of Babylon to add to his defense and supplement his attack power and countering her superior sword skill.

As a result, Saber had been forced to assume that every weapon he held in his hand was more than it seemed and didn't dare be struck by them directly. When he fired the Noble Phantasms, only a handful of them actually were able to be employed correctly. In his hands, however, they could almost always engage their true powers.

Gilgamesh came at her, swinging his new sword and Saber leapt away from him, gaining ground and a precious moment to rest.

The king let her fall back, completely unhurried and still amused.

"You truly do not ever give up," he commented. "Can't you tell this is futile?"

Saber did not dignify that with a response, instead trying to steady her breathing. She was clearly the better swordsman, that much was clear from their first exchange of blows. But the Gate of Babylon and the mystery surrounding the weapons he chose to wield were a pair of advantages that were extremely difficult to overcome.

Even the ferocity of her attacks, at the sacrifice of her stamina, hadn't been enough to overcome those assets.

"Are you going to continue?" Gilgamesh asked. "It is good to demonstrate loyalty to your Master, but there should still be a limit. Kotomine has probably killed that thief by now, so your loyalty to him is a needless show at this point."

"My Knight is still very much alive," Saber replied. "I'd be more concerned for you Master, if I were you. Shirou and Rin are more than a match for him."

Gilgamesh's smile grew. "That is because you still do not understand the power behind the Holy Grail. Even I have trouble against its curse. That thief won't last a minute against it. You made an error, Saber. If you had gone for the Grail instead of them, you would surely have prevailed."

The light in the archer's eyes was not one of amusement. He genuinely believed what he was saying. Saber only gave him a satisfied smile in reply.

"You're wrong, I made the correct choice. My Knight and Rin are far more powerful than you could ever know, Archer. They will not lose to Kotomine, and I will not fall to you."

"So you still have the will to speak impudently to me," Gilgamesh answered. "I do wonder, though. By 'knight' do you mean that thief of a boy? Do you mean to tell me that you took it upon yourself to give him a meaningless title?" Golden gates began to appear behind him and Noble Phantasms sprouted from them.

"The title is not meaningless," Saber replied, adjusting her stance. Gilgamesh was about to get serious and she only had one path to victory, but the odds were stacked against her. She had to gain control of the battle if she wanted any hope of winning. "Shirou will take that title and make it even greater. He will change the world."

"I see," Gilgamesh answered. "Then the only way to convince you otherwise is to show you a complete defeat." He gave her an amused smile. "Try your best to dodge them, Saber. If you're lucky, you'll only be stabbed in the limbs."

And the wall of Noble Phantasms rained down on her like a torrential downpour. Each weapon had the power to kill her if she acted incorrectly.

Saber danced, spun, and dodged the rain of weapons. She dodged a sword as if came at her directly, slapped aside a spear coming at her from one side with her sword, and quickly shifted aside to evade a pair of polearms.

She was never still for more than an instant, instinct and training warning her of incoming attacks as she tried to bring herself closer to the Babylonian king.

As she spun to avoid another pair of weapons she saw even more appearing behind Gilgamesh and preparing to fire.

Saber blasted herself toward the King of Heroes as the new barrage rained down onto her. The constant string of attacks was quickly wearing down her stamina. Small mistakes quickly lead to injuries. Her armor was being chipped away and blades began to meet her body.

Try as she might, she couldn't break through the hordes of weapons. As she ducked past a massive hammer she saw the one thing she had been dreading.

Gilgamesh had finally drawn Ea from the Gate of Babylon and the segments of the ancient weapon had begun to spin in preparation for attack. Apparently, Gilgamesh had wanted to end the fight with dramatic flare.

Saber stopped her charge and unleashed the Sheath of the Wind King, pouring power into Excalibur's blade.

Wind roared from around the two Servants as they charged their ultimate techniques for another contest of strength.

Nothing existed for Saber at that moment except the spinning segments of Ea and the shining light of Excalibur. It wouldn't matter if one of the flying Noble Phantasms managed to hit her if Gilgamesh managed to unleash Ea's fury.

They let loose with their Noble Phantasms at almost the same time. Ea was slightly faster, which was all the opening the ancient weapon needed to strike her.

Saber lost her awareness for a moment as the blast struck and sent her flying away from the King of Heroes.

Pain crashed onto her as she regained her faculties. She'd been hit, but she was still alive. Her armor was mostly destroyed and she was bleeding from numerous wounds. The scabbard was working on repairing the damage, but its healing properties were not instant. It would take some time. Time she probably didn't have.

"This is it, Saber," Gilgamesh said. "Do you still refuse to admit defeat even after this?" The golden armored figure began walking toward her. "Can you feel it, Saber? The dark power that is coming from the temple? That is the true power of the Holy Grail. Your Master cannot hope to survive it. Neither can the little girl who was with him. Submit to me, and await your role in the ritual. After all this is for your benefit, not mine."

"My benefit?" Saber demanded, managing to fill her voice with scorn despite the pain she was feeling. "How could such a curse possibly help me?"

"I told you," Gilgamesh said. "The curse held by the Holy Grail is how I now have a body within this world. You will be able to have a second life once I've bathed you in its mud. Granted, you probably won't be able to keep your sanity, as I did. The look on your face, however, should still hold that beauty that has taken me."

Saber stared at the King. If what he said was true, then was he truly the same Servant she'd met ten years ago? Had he gone insane already?

"Gilgamesh," she said. "Are you?"

"Do not take me as a mongrel, Saber. All the curses of the world? Please, it would at least three times that much to stain me. I am several measures above the muck of humanity. A true hero is someone who carries all that he sees. I already possess everything in this world, the curses of mankind are nothing compared to what I already own."

The mindset was simply incomprehensible to Saber. The absolute arrogance and selfishness of the King before her was simply too different from her own beliefs. Ironically, it was that incomprehensible ego that had saved him from the corruptive power of the Holy Grail. His sense of identity was simply too massive to be overcome. It had to be chipped away, a process that would take forever for one as self-confident as Gilgamesh.

"Hmmm," he said, thoughtfully. "Yes, making you swallow that mud will be good, but losing your mind would take away some of the enjoyment. Very well, let us hold our marriage now, Saber."

Anger flared in Saber's chest and she leapt into the air, aiming to strike the archer down. Gilgamesh grabbed her by a leg and Saber fell back using his grip as an anchor point to swing at his midsection instead.

He blocked the strike with his other arm. "Do you not like being treated rough, Saber? That's too bad, because I don't hold myself back."

Saber glared at the archer, now being held upside down by the man.

Gilgamesh let out a disgusted sound. "So, you honor your Master as a Servant. I can't believe you gave him your body because of the binds of the Command Seal."

"Is that what you believe?" Saber asked. "You are sorely mistaken. I do not obey anyone. I only follow what I believe to be right."

"Oh, so you will not be mine no matter what?" His red eyes locked onto hers, absolute and unyielding.

He fancied her, but he was also practical. If she would not submit to him, then he would destroy her. Simple as that. Saber did not break away from his gaze, her own will as absolute as his own.

"I do not belong to anyone," she told him. "Shirou and I are partners, knight and lord, sword and sheath. I serve my Kingdom, and I will do what is right, just as he does."

"So, that is your answer, Saber?" Gilgamesh's voice became venomous. "Don't make me laugh. A country is nothing more than a possession. If he cannot rule everything, there is no need for a transcendental being like a king. This is why your own country destroyed you, King Arthur."

Saber gave him a wicked smile, as she remembered the words Dresden had told her in outrage. "Then why does my country still exist, Gilgamesh? Why does my country still remember me with fondness, while you unmade your own?" And then she kicked him in the face with her free leg, driving her foot into him with crushing power.

Gilgamesh reflexively released her and she leapt through the air with her arms to land on her feet away from him.

The King of Heroes gave her a furious look. "You would stomp on your better? You must want to be punished gravely."

"What makes you think you are my better, Gilgamesh?" Saber demanded, her head held high with pride. "Because of that banquet we had ten years ago? Where you and Rider mocked the way I ruled? What I believe and how I lived is of no concern to you. Conquerors, tyrants, neither of you knew how to be a king. I am the King of Knights, rightful heir of Britain, as chosen by the sword in the stone. My kingdom may have fallen, but my country grew and it still stands. And so, I will do my duty. You will fall here, Gilgamesh."

She readied Excalibur, leaving no opening in her stance. She would defeat him, now, and go to her Knight's aid if that was what he needed. If not, then she would wait for her retainer to return.

The power and confidence in Saber made Gilgamesh hesitate for a moment. "Let me ask you," he said. "Are you sane?"

Saber simply smiled, her eyes shining with determination.

"Then I will not hold back," Gilgamesh replied. The segments of Ea began to spin once again. The storm that rose from the sword that split the sea and sky was the greatest one yet, a fury meant to erase Saber from existence. "Disappear, annoying woman."

* * *

 **Author's note: Gee, there really isn't much to say here. Writing Saber's discussion of Gil was fun because I had to keep active track of the fact that Saber has changed significantly. She's so much more confident now than she is in canon, which really clears up the one major annoyance I had with Fate/Zero. I know it was all set up for Fate/Stay night, but the way Rider treated Saber and how hard she took it never settled right with me. So, I tried to call back to that, and have Saber say the words she should have said back then.  
** **In other news, we're over 300 followers for this story, and over 250 favorites and reviews. That's astounding to me! I hope we can hit around 300 favorites as well. Ambitious? Probably, but I can dream.**

 **Knight of Fate: I've got Servant stats for Grog, Vex, Vax, and Percy. I'm working on Pike's right now. But, yeah, Vox Machina, as a group, doesn't convert well into a rounded out cast of Servants. Casting is so prevalent among them that only a few can actually be other Servant classes.  
And, no, it wasn't anyone from Critical Role. It was mentioned in the last chapter, so I don't mind saying it here. It was Kirei. The Sight reveals the true nature of things, so when Dresden looked at him, that's what he saw.**

 **KiroZen: I might have been using that song to help write these chapters. :)**

 **SentinelSlice: Indeed we are. Time for this to end.**

 **Naruto Sakura Uzumaki: Yeah, I thought so too. :) I was trying to figure out which Link best fit Rin, and I realized it was the one that had the best damage output.**

 **PasiveNow: Thanks**

 **1eragon33: Yep, got it one. The single most defining weapon in MM Link's arsenal.**

 **Lord Jaric: Kojirou Sasaki is currently facing blissful oblivion, having been turned into a purple, elegant pancake by one Grog Strongjaw.**

 **Prisontaker: Glad you're having fun!**

 **Our journey is almost over. This is endgame. Thank you all so much for everything. The views, favorites, follows, and reviews. Thank you all for your praise, criticism, and simple, silent support. This story has been a blast to work on and I hope we can continue this journey right to the end. Thank you.  
Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! If you have questions, Warden Myst and I are willing to answer them in PMs.  
Thanks for reading!**


	84. Chapter 83

**Chapter 83**

 _Atra gülai un ilian tauthr ono un atra ono waíse skölir frá rauthr._ \- Eragon, _Eragon_

There was a flash of golden light as the Master Sword met with the black tendril and the blade evaporated the attacking limb. More of the mud-like tendrils lashed and whipped through the air toward Shirou and he countered them with his two projected weapons.

Each time one of his swords met with a tendril, the mud was instantly destroyed, but every time Shirou tried to move closer to Kirei, the number of limbs that lashed out against him increased to the point where he couldn't move to gain the advantage on the priest.

Rin was similarly handicapped. Her signature gandr shots, as well as her bursts of elemental attacks channeled through the gloves Dresden had made for her, were all intercepted by the tendrils of dark mud that fell around Kotomine.

The priest had barely moved as the two of them tried to close the distance and kill him. And he still had the disturbing smile on his face.

"I'm afraid you two will have to try better than that," Kirei commented. "There is a very large difference between your level of experience and my own. Unless you can find a way to overcome that gap, I'm afraid your efforts will be for naught."

At his words, the tendrils of mud lashed out once again, this time in a fury, and directing most of their attention toward Rin.

"For example," Kirei continued, conversationally. "Having a fighter who specializes in distance being unprotected is a significant flaw in your strategy."

Rin leapt away from the tendrils of mud the instant before they slammed into the ground where she'd been standing. Black droplets splashed from the impact and struck her across her body. Wherever the droplets met Rin's clothing, smoke began to rise and she cried out in pain as the mud quickly burned its way through her clothing, except for the duster that Harry had given her, to reach her skin.

With a shout, Shirou spun and slashed the Master Sword in Rin's direction, unleashing an arc of blue-white light past her toward the tendrils near her.

The energy from the Master Sword shriveled away the tendrils near Rin, the ones striking out at Shirou took advantage of the opening he'd left to lash out at him as well.

Shirou flinched away from the mud that slapped at him and wrapped itself around his limbs, but the tendrils had a surprising strength to them, and they managed to hold firm against his attempted evasion.

Shirou felt his own skin begin to burn as the mud made contact with it. With panicked movements, Shirou managed to break the lock the mud tendrils had on him and began to back away. As the tendrils tried to regain their hold, Shirou slashed his two swords out and drove the mud away.

"And you should not lower your guard even while you defend an ally," Kirei added. "If you two tried to put your lives on the line, then you might be able to get within striking range of me."

"Oh, really?" Shirou asked, and he felt a very tiny smile touch his lips. Then he spun both swords in his hands and charged forward. The Master Sword pointed down, lowered so that the point was held just barely above and perpendicular to the ground, while the sword of Amoracchius was held up and ready to strike in his right hand.

The blazing sunlight of the Master Sword hardened the mud before Shirou as he ran into a solid pathway that immediately began to fragment and fall apart, providing a barely stable pathway for him to run across the corrupted water that separated him and Kotomine.

With a powerful kick of his legs, Shirou launched himself toward Kirei, spinning the Master Sword up and swinging both of his weapons at the priest.

Kirei spun to avoid the double slash of the swords and drew a collection of red, t-shaped hilts from his coat. Blades formed atop the hilts and Kirei shot forward to counter attack. As Shirou blocked the Black Keys with Amoracchius, he was overcome with a realization that he could do this.

Kirei wasn't a slouch when it came to his swordsmanship, but Shirou simply understood in that instant that Kirei could never compare to Saber, or Link, or even Archer, when it came to handling blades.

The smile was gone from Kirei's face, and his expression was as blank as it always had been. The priest was calm, collected, and in the proper mindset for a battle to the death. He wasn't overconfident, and he wasn't feeling emotional.

The two of them exchanged blows rapidly, the eerie sensation of Archer's combat style falling over him once again as the two of them became blurs of spinning steel. Behind him, he could hear the crashes from the tendrils of mud as they tried to strike down Rin.

The two of them separated at the same time and began to circle, warily.

"What happened to your confidence, Kotomine?" Shirou asked. "I thought you said there was a large experience gap between us."

Kirei didn't answer, and his expression remained calm and calculating. For some reason, that annoyed Shirou. Which was probably Kirei's plan, now that he thought about it. Goading him into a hasty attack so that he could gain the upper hand and finish him quickly. Kirei might have been insane, but he wasn't a fool.

Knowledge poured into Shirou as he circled with the priest, understanding about how the man fought. It took Shirou a moment to realize that he was because he kept glancing at the Black Keys the priest was holding. Even if they were projected, they still had a history to them, a story of their use that he could apparently read.

Some distant part of him realized that it made sense that he could read the history of the weapons, because history was one of the steps he used when doing his own projections.

Shirou smiled as an idea occurred to him. _"Trace on,"_ he said, and projected Kirei's own Black Keys and launching them through the air like Gilgamesh would his own weapons.

Kirei evaded the assault and charged once again. He threw his weapons at Shirou, forcing him to defend himself and allowing Kirei to get in close. Then he drove his hand hard into Shirou's side before he could block and sent him tumbling back. Shirou felt bones break from the blow and pain shoot through him.

The force of the blow knocked Shirou right to the edge of the corrupted water, though the light of his swords burned away the mud as they grew close.

"Emiya!" Rin shouted and fired a quick pair of gandr shots toward Kirei before she was forced to stop and leap away from more tendrils lashing out at her.

Kirei didn't banter, he simply ran for Shirou, capitalizing on his vulnerability as he climbed to his feet. The weapon flashed through Shirou's mind in an instant with a flash of silver fire and the words _"Trace on"_ the bracer appeared on Shirou's arm.

He dodged Kirei's next strike with a lithe twist of his body that was not something he'd been taught, but which suddenly felt familiar to him. Then the blade slid from the bracer that he'd seen on Ezio Auditore's arm when he fought Link, and Shirou thrust the weapon forward, scoring a hit on Kirei's arm as they separated again.

A flash of pain passed across Kirei's face and blood began to spill from the long cut that ran along the priest's arm. The two of them locked eyes and Kirei flexed his arm, as if to make sure it could still function properly.

From where was standing, he could see Rin still leaping and dodging the tendrils of mud that kept her from interfering with his duel with Kirei. His better than average vision allowed him to see several burns across her clothing where there'd been near misses or splash damage inflicted from impacts.

"You cannot save her," Kirei told him and Shirou locked his gaze of the priest again.

"Rin is locked within her own battle, Shirou Emiya," Kirei said. "And you are locked inside your own. If you abandon your battle to save her, you will lose everything you have been working toward this night. If you wish to be victorious, then you must surrender her for the greater good and take this opportunity to strike me down."

Anger flared inside Shirou at the priest's words. He was, of course, correct. He couldn't afford to save Rin from the tendrils, not with Kotomine within striking range. So if anything were to happen to Rin, she would have to face it on her own.

But, Rin was growing tired from constantly dodging the lashes from the mud, and it was only a matter of time before she was squarely hit. If that happened…

"While we have this moment together," Kirei suddenly said. "I find myself curious. What were your father's last moments like?"

"What?" Shirou asked, caught off-guard by the question. Kirei rose and assumed a deceptively relaxed posture.

"Your father, Kiritsugu Emiya. What were his final moments like? How did the curse I inflicted upon him affect him? How did it kill him?"

Shirou tightened his grip on the swords he held. "Why do you care?" Shirou demanded.

"Simple curiosity, as I've said. I was hoping to have an account before I did the same to Rin, for the sake of comparison."

"What?!" Shirou shouted and reflexively looked to where Rin was fighting, just in time to see a wall of mud burst forth from one of the tendrils and fly to engulf Rin completely.

Shirou glanced down at Kirei in time to see him hurl some of the mud at him as well.

"Angra Mainyu," the priest declared as the mud left his hand.

* * *

Grog barrelled toward Link with another roar and swung his axe in a powerful blow meant to cut him in half.

With a battle cry of his own, Link readied his sword and charged down the stairs, the looped blade of the Fierce Deity's Sword meeting with the head of Grog's axe with a shower of sparks.

Just like before, the Berserker's strength began to overwhelm Link and he put every part of his will into simply holding back the force of the blow.

It was even harder to do now, with the rod jammed into him and reducing the flow of power he'd gained from the mask he was wearing.

 _Mask,_ Link thought. Then his eyes went wide as he spotted the weakness he could use.

He adjusted his stance as best he could and pushed against Grog's axe with every ounce of his strength he could use from the power of his mask and gauntlets on his arms. He was only going to have one shot.

Sparks flew from the locked blades and as Link tried his best to adjust in the right manner he spotted something else he could use. Burn scars ran along Grog's body, and not ones that had been faded over a long stretch of time either. The skin didn't quite look right, as if some kind of healing had been only half done.

Link locked his gaze with Grog's, and the battle between them only seemed to grow more intense. The Berserker was motivated; he wasn't going to give up. No matter what the potential cost was, he would try to take the Grail and use it to fulfill his own wish or die trying.

That drive, that desire, fueled the goliath's strength just as much as the muscles of his body and the primordial power of the stone gauntlets on his hands.

Link could respect that. He had a wish of his own after all. But, unlike the Berserker, he was willing to let it go. The cycle wouldn't break, but he could live with that. He'd done it often enough, and he was comfortable with the good he'd done, and the good he would continue to do in lifetimes to come.

So he met the gaze of the Berserker before him, and he smiled. Then, he took off the mask that was on his face.

Link instantly shrunk back into his child form and the sword he held returned to its normal size and shape.

Suddenly deprived of the resistance against his own weapon, Grog stumbled forward, a look of shock on his face, and his axe drove itself into the stone stairs behind Link as he moved forward to be inside the axe's reach.

Link took one step forward and placed the mask back onto his face. Power rushed through him and he grew back into his adult form and his sword changed back into the Fierce Deity's Blade, except now he was _inside_ of Grog's reach, where the Berserker couldn't block, or counter his next attack.

With a battle cry, Link thrust his sword straight into Grog's chest and unleashed every scrap of energy he could from the sword's blade.

The massive blade stuck out of Grog's back and power exploded out with it, lighting up the stairway where they stood and blasting into the sky like reverse lightning.

Link's arms strained as the heavy weight of Grog's now slumping form pressed against him. Warmth brushed his face as the Berserker panted next to him.

"I just," Grog said. "I just wanted my friend back." His breath grew shallower. "I didn't care about Kirei. I just wanted to see Vax again."

"I know," Link said, lifting one hand and resting it on Grog's chest. "But once we die, we don't come back. And I don't think he'd want to be brought back by the Grail, not with the cost it would have."

Grog coughed. "Probably," he admitted, his eyes shining. "But still… I miss him, you know? The jokes. The drinkin'. The fun we had together."

"Wherever your friend is," Link said. "I'm certain he was cheering for you to win, and I'm sure he would have helped you fix whatever happened after you used the Grail."

"How'd you win?" Grog asked. "How'd you know that would work?"

Link shrugged. "I spotted the barely healed scars on your body when we were locked together. I don't think there was anything that could have actually survived that explosion Harry made. No matter how you looked or moved, you couldn't be fighting at 100%. Kotomine must have used a Command Seal to help you survive and then recover. And I doubt Assassin went down without a fight. So, I figured the best move to do was to get you with one, all-or-nothing shot and take advantage of whatever damage you were trying to hide."

Grog smiled and closed his eyes as he faded away into errant sparks of light.

* * *

 _ **"Enuma Elish!"**_ Gilgamesh cried and released an unstoppable fury onto Saber. Rather than attack, herself, Saber lowered her sword and jumped straight into the swirling destruction meant to end her life.

The force unleashed by the primordial weapon could not be stopped by anything of the mortal world. Even if Saber had a shield, she wouldn't have even bothered to try and use it. Ea was simply too powerful. Even the shield of Hyrule would simply shatter from the force unleashed by that ancient blade.

So, she used something otherworldly to stop the assault instead.

Gilgamesh's eyes went wide as Saber moved into the swirling wind and light, the remains of her armor shredding before its power. Only then did she raise her sword and declare: _**"Excalibur!"**_

Golden light burst from her sword and distorted the fury that surrounded her. Ea's blast quickly overwhelmed and devoured the shining radiance of Excalibur.

"I see!" Gilgamesh exclaimed. "So you truly have lost your mind, woman!" The spinning segments of Ea increased their speed and the storm it unleashed grew in intensity.

And as the storm around her distorted from her own sword's power, Saber leapt forward and played her ace in the hole.

 _ **"Avalon!"**_ Saber cried and that which had been stolen from her, the sheath of Excalibur, appeared, surrounding her in it's Fae radiance and protecting her from all harm.

Blood could not be spilled in the Ever-Distant Utopia. Darkness could not reach it, pain could not approach it, death could not come to it. The manifestation of the Faerie realm shrouded itself over and around Saber, shielding and isolating her from any harm that tried to touch her. Even Ea, unknowable and powerful as it was, could not cross that barrier from the mortal to the immortal world.

Gilgamesh stared in awe and rising horror as death came toward him. It was far too late for him to move. He couldn't stop his assault now that he was committed to it. All he could do was watch as the end came for him, shrouded in beauty and wonder.

Saber, clad in blue, came to him, pouring all of her strength and power into the partnered blade of the legendary scabbard.

"SABER!" he howled.

 _ **"Excalibur!"**_

Golden light, said to come from the dreams of fallen warriors on the battlefield, the very embodiment of the king known as Arthur Pendragon, cut down the first hero in a shining brilliance.

The light faded and Saber kept the sword pointing down, her gaze following the blade. She had no strength left.

On the ground before her, lay Gilgamesh, nearly cut in half by her final stroke. Wind brushed by the pair, and silence was their companion. Finally, the man sighed.

He raised one hand weakly and touched her cheek, as if trying to confirm that what he was seeing was real.

"You are a hateful woman," he said, trying for annoyed, but without any bite to the words. "You defy me to the very end."

The golden armor he wore began to break apart into errant sparks of golden light.

"But I shall forgive you," he continued. "Some things are beautiful because they cannot be obtained."

His hand fell limply, losing all its strength.

"Heh," he laughed. "And if that's the case, then it was inevitable that I would lose to you." He was sullen, disappointed.

"Goodbye, King of Knights. It was fun."

He smiled ironically at her, and then he was gone.

* * *

As one of the tendrils reared up, Rin tensed herself. Something was off about its behavior. The tendrils that had been attacking her so far had simply lashed out in order to kill her. Their movements had been fast and relentless, but easy to predict. This was different, and she readied herself for whatever new tactic it was going to try.

After a brief pause, the tendril thrust itself forward and then burst into a wall of mud that moved to cover an area that was too wide for her to leap out of the way.

Rin's eyes went wide as she realized her mistake. She'd been lulled into a false sense of security.

By assuming that the tendril's behavior would be of a similar quality of what it had done before, she'd been coaxed into a better position to get herself killed.

Time slowed as she desperately tried to figure out a way out of the trap. If that mud covered her, she was going to die, horribly, and then Shirou would be left to fend for himself and Link would disappear, leaving Saber open to an attack from outside of her own battle.

But, try as she might, she couldn't think of anything to get herself out of the way in time. If she'd been expecting the attack, she could have used reinforcement to help give her body enough speed and strength to evade, but she'd waited to see how the tendril would attack in order to conserve energy. Now, it was too late for her to get clear.

Rin slowly closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do to stop the mud from reaching her now.

 _"Oh, come on,"_ a familiar voice whispered in her ear and the back of her right hand began to itch. _"Is that really all you're going to do? Simply stand there and give up? I taught you to be better than that, Rin."_

Rin's eyes snapped open. "Harry?" she asked. Then she acted without thinking. There wasn't any time for it now.

Rin spun in place and whipped the red, leather duster Harry had given her off of her back. Acting furiously, Rin flipped her switch and poured mana into the coat, altering its structure to change it from a duster into a band of solid red leather.

As the ring fell into place around her, she crouched and laid her hand against it, pouring mana into it as fast as she could.

There was a strange tingling over her right hand, as if it had suddenly fallen asleep, and then the wall of mud reached her.

As they'd worked together, she and Harry had spoken of how magic had worked in his own world and they'd compared the differences between their respective acts of magic.

Their conversations hadn't yielded groundbreaking revelations, not yet, but one of the first things Harry had taught her about was magic circles. They were one of the first things an apprentice wizard was taught, and that their basic function was to cut off anything inside them from the magic of the world around them. By placing oneself within a circle, wizards could shield themselves from just about any kind of magical attack that wasn't directly connected to them through thaumaturgy.

There was a connection between that concept, and the use of the formal craft magic that she had been taught by both her father and Kirei, and what happened next confirmed that belief.  
Magic, and magical beings could not cross a circle. To break it would require a conscious will to break the protection such a circle provided. The curse of the Holy Grail might look like it made a will of its own, but it didn't. It was bound in an unnatural nature, and that nature wasn't free enough to make a choice to break apart even such a simple protection.

The wall of mud, the curse of the Holy Grail that was so potent that it had taken on physical form, reached where she was crouched on the ground and slammed into an invisible wall of power that had arisen around her.

Within seconds, the mud had broken around her and spread itself on the ground like a puddle, slowly spreading away from her and the ring of leather around her.

 _"Now,"_ Harry's voice said. _"Get off your ass and kick his up between his ears for thinking that it was a good idea to attack those you hold close."_

* * *

Shirou couldn't watch whatever was happening to Rin, the attack from Kirei held his complete attention.

The mud that he'd taken and thrown at Shirou was expanding, darkening, and ready to consume him.

Shirou slashed out with the Master Sword and Amoracchius, the two swords blazing into blinding light. There was the sound of steam rising and stone shattering as the curse Kirei had thrown at Shirou simply shattered against the purifying light of the twin swords.

Shirou threw himself forward with a yell before Kirei could try the trick again. Kirei didn't look surprised, annoyed, but not surprised. More Black Keys were in his hands and he had apparently been expecting Shirou to charge.

As Shirou slashed with both swords, the priest danced away and behind him and threw a trio of Black Keys into the shadow that spread out from behind Shirou.

Shirou felt himself jolt as his forward momentum was forced to stop by the magic in the Keys. The sudden stop jarred him enough that, to his horror, the two swords left his hands and dropped to the ground just before him.

He could feel Kirei moving in on him, closing in for the kill. Kotomine was smart, not wasting time by goading or gloating anymore.

Shirou smiled. _"Trace on,"_ he said and initiated another projection. " _ **Shield of Hyrule**_." The metal kite shield of Link blazed into life directly behind Shirou and shone into its barrier form. Shirou felt the binding that held him in place shattered as the protective energy cut off the spell's connection to his shadow and block the strike Kirei had aimed for his exposed back.

Shirou grabbed the swords he'd dropped and spun to face Kirei once again. Then he dismissed the shield. He wasn't going to need it.

The two of them faced each other, neither side moving.

"I never thought you'd be so heartless as to leave a companion to die," Kirei said. "Perhaps you're more like your father than I gave you credit for. He always did take the many over the few."

"That's where you're wrong," Shirou told him. "That Kiritsugu died ten years ago. He chose the one over the many when he saved me."

"Sentiment," Kirei replied, as if it were a curse word. "It will be the death of you, Shirou Emiya."

The words were disturbingly similar to what Archer had been trying to tell him before and while they'd fought. Despite himself, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

That brief hesitation that came from Shirou was enough to prompt Kirei to leap forward in another attack. Which was why he didn't catch sight of Rin leaping at him until it was far too late.

Shirou's eyes went wide at the sight of her, now missing her duster and holding an azoth dagger in her hand. Her blue eyes blazed with fury and she didn't bother wasting time with words.

Kirei noticed Shirou's reaction and began to turn, allowing Rin to plunge the dagger directly into his chest and toward his heart.

Rin opened her mouth, but Kirei slammed one hand into her solar plexus, driving the wind from her and knocking her away from him.

Shirou moved forward, lashing out with both swords and tracing the dagger in front of him as he moved.

He saw Rin's plan the instant he scanned the dagger now sticking out of Kotomine's chest. Now it was up to him to finish it.

With a battle cry, Shirou attacked, and brought both swords together just below Kirei's elbow, and cut the arm he'd used to strike at Rin cleanly off of his body. Then Shirou let go of the two swords, spun and drove his own fist into the dagger in Kirei's chest and shouted the command word that would unleash the energy stored within the weapon, pouring everything he could to add to the dagger's own stored power.

The dagger activated and blasted every scrap of power that Rin had stored within it directly into Kirei's heart.

Kirei stumbled back and looked down at the weapon protruding from him. A glimmer of recognition came to his eyes and he looked back up at the two of them.

"To think," he said, again with that disturbing and morbid smile on his face. "That I would be killed by the very dagger I used to kill your father, Rin. And by the son of the man who shot me as well. Irony indeed."

Then he collapsed, dead.

* * *

 **Author's note: Why, yes, Kirei. There is a vast difference in the experience between you and Shirou. You can tell because he kicked your ass. Also, screw Shirou needing Avalon. He's got the Master Sword and a Sword of the Cross. Angra Mainyu has got nothing on that amount of purifying power.**

 **Celian Cogitore: Yes, he is the first Lich. He is also a god of secrets in many D &D campaign settings. He also literally Ascended while Vox Machina was with Ioun. And he's also evil. :)**

 **Prisontaker: Sorry, no Unlimited Blade Works this time. Unfortunately, Shirou isn't able to deploy it quite yet. He understands it now, and he knows its relationship with him, but he doesn't yet have the aria to make it manifest.**

 **Dracus6: I'm always down for hearing ideas (especially since I'm a pretty big fan of both Fate/Stay Night and RWBY), but I'm a little confused by what you're trying to say. Plus, I've got a bunch of other projects on my docket, so new ideas are going to have to be on a back burner for a little while.**

 **Knight of Fate: Yeah, I think Grog is the only one who can't cast spells on his own without something like the sword to help. I liked the idea of the rods interrupting the Mask, since the mask has divine-like power, and the trammels were meant to make it harder for Vecna to resist the spell to drive him away, I figured, why wouldn't they work? And, sorry, but Grog is gone now. Too many stacking injuries thanks to Dresden's Death Curse.**

 **Soon. There's only one thing left to do. The Servants have fallen, the Grail stands ready, and the night is almost over. This story's been fun, and I hope you all had an amazing time, but all good things must come to an end. The fifth Holy Grail war, is about to come to a close.  
Thank you all so much for everything. The views, favorites, follows, and reviews. Thank you all for your praise, criticism, and simple, silent support. This story has been a blast to work on and I hope we can continue this journey right to the end. Thank you.  
Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and leave a review! If you have questions, Warden Myst and I are willing to answer them in PMs.  
Thanks for reading!**


	85. Chapter 84

**Chapter 84**

 _Whenever there is a meeting, a parting shall follow. But that parting needs not last forever. Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short while... that is up to you."_ -Happy Mask Salesman, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Shirou and Rin stood over Kirei's body, completely silent. Rin's eyes seemed to glow with her satisfaction. She didn't feel happy, but she didn't mourn Kotomine either.

Shirou just felt… empty. He didn't feel joy, or sorrow, or even regret at what he had done. Kirei's death had been necessary, to save the city, the world, Rin, Saber, and himself.

 _"If you could do it again,"_ a voice seemed to whisper from next to Shirou. _"Would you do it differently?"_

"No," Shirou said. "I wouldn't have."

 _"Then what you did was necessary,"_ the voice replied. _"Don't let it pull you down."_

Shirou brow furrowed and he glanced around, but didn't see anyone other than Rin with him. That voice. That strange presence. It was… But that was impossible.

"Harry?" he asked to the empty air. Rin locked her gaze onto Shirou.

"You heard him too?" she asked. Shirou nodded. "Then that means…" Rin said, her voice drifting into silence. Then she ran away from the portal the Grail had opened and toward the forest that surrounded the temple.

"Tohsaka!" Shirou called after her.

"Take care of Illya and the Grail!" she shouted back. "I have to check something before it's too late!"

"But-" Shirou shouted, but Rin was already gone. He sighed and then made his way toward the portal that still spilled dark mud. Whatever mud was near him hardened and disappeared as the light from the twin swords fell upon it, creating a safe path for him to walk.

As he reached Illya, he stabbed both weapons into the ground and lifted his arms. As if waiting for the signal, Illya's prone form slowly dropped from the air and gently into his arms.

With a muttered _"Trace on,"_ and a small amount of mana, Shirou projected a blanket and wrapped the unconscious girl in the cloth. Illya's breath warmed a small part of Shirou's arm and her lips moved in a small smile.

Footsteps approached, two sets of them, and then Saber spoke.

"We will destroy the Holy Grail, Shirou."

"Where's Rin?" Link asked.

"She ran off after the fighting was done," Shirou told him. "She said she needed to check something before it was too late."

Link made a thoughtful sound. "I suppose it can't be helped," he said. "But it's time to finish this."

Link and Saber made their way past Shirou and lifted their swords. "Master," Saber said. "Give the order. Without your command, I cannot destroy the Grail."

Shirou didn't speak and he couldn't bring himself to look at Saber. He heard her turn to look at him.

"Shirou," she said. "I want to hear you say it. I want to hear it from your own mouth."

His eyes went up and met with Saber's. He stared into her jade green eyes, becoming lost inside of them. They wavered slightly, like pools of colored water, and Shirou wasn't sure if it was his eyes that had blurred, or hers.

Then he closed his eyes and hardened his resolve. She was his King, and he was her Knight. They gained their strength from each other, so he made sure he was strong.

He thought back to the time they'd spent together. The weeks that had passed as the Grail War had been fought. They had both grown in those days, they had become more than they once were.

"I love you, Saber," he murmured.

"I love you, Shirou," she murmured back.

"By my Command Seals," Shirou declared. "Saber, Arturia Pendragon, I order you to never forget who you are. I order you to fulfill your duty as King. And I order you to destroy the Holy Grail with your Noble Phantasm."

The Holy Sword of Excalibur blazed into golden light and the twin swords Shirou had used faded away into errant sparks as he poured whatever mana he had left into his Servant, to make sure the job was done.

Blinding blue light blazed from Link as he readied the Fierce Deity's blade.

" _ **Ex-"**_

 _ **"Fierce Deity's Mask!"**_

 _ **"-caliber!"**_

With twin battle cries, Saber and Link unleashed their attacks upon the Holy Grail. The two blasts of holy and divine light met and twisted together as they touched the black void that was the Grail and utterly destroyed it with a blinding explosion of light and sound.

And, just for the briefest of instants, Shirou thought he heard a horrible, terrifying scream of rage before the portal disappeared for good.

* * *

Rin ran through the forest as fast as she could. She had to be sure. If there was even the slightest chance that he was still alive, she had to see him.

Rin ran as fast as she could, propelled forward by a searing hope burning in her chest. She burst out of the trees and then she saw him.

He stood at the top of a hill, looking out over the forest. He wasn't the same as she remembered him.

His form was translucent and his feet didn't leave a mark on the ground. A small breeze drifted past them and the grass under him moved in time with the wind, even though his duster did not.

"Harry?" Rin asked, her voice, little more than a whisper.

He turned to face her and gave her a small smile. Her heart ached at the sight and she realized what was happening.

"You're not actually here, are you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Not all of me," he answered. "I died once, but my spirit stuck around because the circumstances of that death were not of my choosing, even if it looked like it to me at the time. So I was given the chance to discover what had actually happened to me, and solve my own murder." He gestured down as his translucent form. "Just before I let loose with my Death Curse, I used my Phantasm to take just a small portion of me, and turn it into my ghost. Just to keep an eye on you before the war ended. Now that it's done, I'll just fade away."

"But, you don't have to," Rin told him. She lifted her right hand, which still held the single Command Seal bound to him. "You can stay here. I can give you mana."

Harry tilted his head from side to side. "Technically true, I suppose. But, I don't think it's a good idea. You don't need me, Rin. You have everything you need back there," and he pointed back where she'd come from. "You have Shirou, and Sakura, and your other friends at school. You even have Tony. You're a strong, stubborn, and powerful young woman. You're going to change the world, Rin. I know it.

"My job here is done, the case is closed, and the world isn't too worse for wear. It's my time to go. Okay?"

Rin closed her eyes so that she wouldn't have to see them blur from unshed tears. A hand suddenly laid itself on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise. She opened her eyes to see Harry, standing in front of her, now in physical form.

Before she could move, before she could do anything, he laid a kiss on her forehead. "Do me a favor, Rin," he said. "Make sure Shirou doesn't get into too much trouble. He's a Knight now, and he's going to want to fulfill his duty. Make sure it doesn't overwhelm him. Make sure he knows how to get home again."

Rin scowled. "I was planning on doing that already," she snapped.

Harry leaned back and began to laugh. "Of course," he said. "Who was I kidding? You're never going to let him go, are you?" He smiled at her. "Now you don't go getting into too much trouble either, Rin."

Rin's scowl grew more intense and Harry grinned. And then, he was just gone. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared.

There was a blinding flash of light behind her and the Holy Grail was destroyed.

* * *

The beginnings of sunrise spread across the horizon as the Command Seals faded from Shirou's hand. He'd set Illya down on a clean patch of grass so that she could rest.

"It's all over now, isn't it?" Saber asked.

"Yeah," Shirou said. "This is the end."

"As your sword, I have slain your enemies and protected you at every turn. As your King, I have given you guidance and helped you grow. I am glad I was able to carry out those oaths."

"And as your Knight, I have come to your aid. As your sheath, I have given you somewhere to rest."

"There is one last thing I must tell you, Shirou." Saber turned to face him, her face beautiful with the brightening sky, her golden hair, now free of its braid, flowing with the soft breeze passing by. "I love you, and I shall wait for you in utopia. No matter how long it takes, I shall wait for you, my Knight."

Sunlight flared from the mountains in the distance and Shirou reflexively shielded his eyes. When he lowered his hands, Saber was gone.

He glanced around and saw Link fading away and simply watching him.

"One more cycle," he said. "Darkness has been destroyed one more time." He grinned at Shirou. "It was a blast," he told him. "Thank you for being my Master, Shirou. Wield the Master Sword well, and make it known that it's radiance will always come to banish the darkness." And then he faded away as well.

Shirou stared at where the two Servants had been for a moment and then stepped to where Saber had been standing to watch the sunrise. His foot hit something metallic as he reached the spot and he glanced down to see a large sheath where Saber had been standing.

Shirou knew immediately what it was and he bent to pick it up. He wrapped his arms around it, and he felt gentle warmth emanate from the scabbard as it easily passed into his body.

"I will find you, Saber," he swore. "I will find my way to Avalon, where we can see each other once again."

Footsteps approached and he turned to see Rin, Sakura, Sella, Leysritt, and even Tony standing there, watching him. Well, Tony was being carried by Leysritt and Sella was picking up the sleeping Illya, but the general attention was focused on Shirou.

"It's done?" Rin asked.

Shirou simply nodded.

"Good," she said. "Then let's go home."

* * *

He was in darkness. He didn't know where he was, or what he was doing. All he saw, and all he knew, was darkness.

As he floated there, or was he laying on something, a point of light shone before him. A single spark of golden light that was familiar for some reason. The spark grew larger and brighter, becoming a single shining star that split the darkness that surrounded him.

Something echoed around him. It was a melodic sound, but too vague for it to be understood.

Then it came again, this time more clearly.

 _"...Open your eyes…"_

The light continued to shine like a star, splitting the darkness but not illuminating anything else. All he saw was the void and the light. Then the star spread it's light across his entire field of vision and all he could see was the golden radiance.

For a moment, his entire existence was that golden light, then it began to fade and he began to see.

 _"Open your eyes…"_ the voice said.

Something tugged at his mind, some kind of dream he'd had. He remembered a boy, and a king, and darkness that had come, darkness he had helped destroy.

His blurry sight revealed several points of bright blue light that faded to several small and distinct points of illumination placed within a flowing, metallic, circular device placed within the stone ceiling above him.

 _"Open your eyes,"_ a woman's voice told him.

He was laying in a shallow pool of cool water, unsure of where he was, or what had happened.

 _"Wake up, Link."_

* * *

She awoke to the familiar motion of a horse. She was being carried away from the bloody and body-strew hill. The rider was familiar to her. One her knights, Bedivere.

An indeterminate amount of time passed while she tried to gather her wits, but it was hard to concentrate.

Bedivere noticed. "Please do not move, my king," he advised. "I shall find a place for you to rest shortly."

She decided to listen to the advice, and it was not long before the horse came to a stop and she was carefully picked up and carried to a nearby tree by her knight.

Bedivere gently laid her to rest at the tree. "King Arthur," he said. "I'll go and fetch the troops immediately. Just rest for now."

"Bedivere," she said.

Bedivere gasped. "You've regained consciousness, sire," he said, joy coloring his voice.

"I was just dreaming for a moment," she told him.

"Dreaming, sire?"

"Yes. I rarely have dreams. It was an invaluable experience."

"In that case, please rest without worry, sire. If you close your eyes again, you will surely begin the dream where you left off."

"Continue the dream?" she asked. "Is it possible to continue the same dream?"

Bedivere closed his eyes and fought back his fear. The drifting quality of his king's voice was a terrible sign. It was a sign of his failure, that he was too late to save his king from his wounds. King Arthur was slipping away, and Britain would be lesser for it.

"Yes," he said, giving his king what comfort he could. "I have done it myself many times, sire. You just have to want it enough."

"I see," she replied, pleased. "You are a person of great knowledge." Silence came between them for a time before she spoke again. "Listen to me, Bedivere," she said. "You must take my sword." Bedivere was shocked at the command. He hesitated for a moment before obeying his king and taking up the weapon.

"Now listen closely. I want you to ride through this forest and over that blood-soaked hill. Beyond that, you will find a deep lake. I want you to throw my sword into that lake."

Bedivere took the holy sword of King Arthur and rode from where he'd set the King. As he reached the shore of the lake his king had described, the knight balked at his task and rode back.

As he came to his king, he said that he had performed his task, but she simply told him: "Please do as I ask, Bedivere."

He rode out once again, and again he balked at the command he had been given.

It was not until the third time he was sent out that he did as he king had told him, casting the sword of Excalibur out into the lake. As the sword flew through the air toward the clear water, the sunlight flashed across the weapon, casting silver and golden light through the air before it reached the water and was seized by a slender and beautiful hand that arose from the surface of the lake and pulled the weapon within the depths of the water.

As he returned to his king, he reported what he had done.

"I have given your sword back to the Lady of the Lake," he said.

"Thank you," she said. "You should be proud of what you have done, Bedivere. You performed an order from your king." There was a long pause. "Bedivere," she said.

"Yes, sire?"

"I'm afraid my slumber this time… will be… a very long one."

And with those words, Arturia Pendragon, the once and future King, passed from the mortal world to walk the fields of Avalon to wait for her beloved.

"Are you dreaming now?" Bedivere, the first to mourn the death of his king, asked. "Are you still dreaming the same dream?"

* * *

"Shirou?"

Shirou let out a breath as the now familiar dream faded away from his mind.

The voice, a girl's voice, continued. "I'm sorry, but it's time to wake up."

He turned from his sprawled position on the cold stone floor of the shed and gazed up at the beautiful, purple haired girl that had woken him up. "Good morning, Sakura," he said, rising up to a sitting position.

"Breakfast is ready and on the table," Sakura informed him.

Shirou blinked at that. "Don't you have an archery tournament this morning?" he asked. "I could've done breakfast."

Sakura gave him a small smile. "It's fine, Shirou," she assured him. "If I don't follow my normal routine, then I have a hard time staying on track for the rest of the day."

"Oh," Shirou said as he climbed to his feet and brushed himself off.

Sakura glanced around the shed. "Were you working late again?" she asked.

Shirou's own gaze moved around the shed as well.

In the six months that had passed since the end of the Grail War, the interior had undergone some significant changes. The assorted junk and machinery had been reorganized to create more space and be more accessible. The circle that had been laid into the floor ten years before was now clear and available for access.

There was also a trapdoor now set in one corner that allowed access to a new, underground section of the shed that he'd added. It was the place he went to practice his more powerful projections so that he wouldn't damage the shed itself or anything that was inside of it. He'd spent a fair amount of time there over the last few months, perfecting his craft and working on his search.

Sakura's gaze bored into him and he realized that she was guessing his thoughts.

"You'll see her again, Shirou," she said. "But she's not going to like it if you run yourself ragged trying to find her."

Shirou sighed. Sakura had gotten much better at that, guessing his thoughts. She was nowhere near Kotomine's league, but she was far more intuitive now than she had been before the War. Maybe it had something to do with the contact she'd had with the spirit Lash, or maybe the talent had simply been buried for years. Either way, Sakura had changed.

There was a roaring sound and a pair of high pitched yells from outside. Both Sakura and Shirou turned and left the shed to see Taiga riding her new motor scooter through the yard with a desperately clinging Illya behind her.

The moped swerved and spun uncontrollably for a moment before veering wildly and speeding straight toward Shirou at high speed.

Shirou acted on reflex and pulled the trigger inside himself to engage reinforcement, making his body more durable. The scooter surged toward him, too fast for him to dodge, so he grabbed the vehicle like it was a bull and tried to force it to fall and stop moving.

The impact was impressively loud.

* * *

"Wow," Taiga said several minutes later while they were at the living room table enjoying the breakfast Sakura had made. "You've gotten pretty burly there, Shirou. You managed to stop my scooter with your bare hands!"

"I'm flattered," Shirou replied, dryly. He leveled a look at Tony, who was sitting on the other side of the table from him. "Remind me again why you got her that thing?"

Tony grinned and shrugged. "Crime of opportunity," he replied.

"All you have to do is say the word," Illya said, conspiratorially. "And I can get rid of her in her sleep, Shirou."

Flames seemed to shoot out from Taiga's eyes and both she and Illya started arguing… again.

Despite how often the two of them clashed, they actually got along rather well. Illya had been staying at Taiga's house while Sella and Leysritt had been working to 'restore the Einzbern castle to its original and proper glory.' The process was apparently taking quite some time, unlike the long completed rebuilding of Shirou's own home, and so Illya had gone to the Fujimura Group. Raiga had instantly fallen in love with her and the girl had quickly integrated herself.

Shirou would have been worried about how quickly Illya had gotten involved, except Tony, who had insisted on staying in Fuyuki after the War, had been keeping an eye on the girl to make sure she didn't do anything too drastic. The last thing Fuyuki needed was a child like Illya taking control of one of the most prominent Yakuza groups around. Fuyuki had seen enough disasters already.

Barnett, for his part, had asked Shirou if he could stay with him from time to time in exchange for his help in rebuilding Shirou's house and then insisting on coming in with Rin to magically reinforce the entire building to be able to withstand everything from pests to thermonuclear war. Shirou still wasn't sure whether or not Tony had been serious about that last part.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Sakura said as she approached the table with a tray of food.

The appearance of the last part of their meal stopped the argument between Illya and Taiga and they rapidly took their seats.

Sakura did not look at Tony as she sat down and they began to eat.

A couple of days after the war had finished, Tony had come to see Sakura and to explain what had happened to Shinji. He'd asked Shirou to listen as well, since the two of them had been friends. Shirou didn't miss the fact that Tony had excluded Shinji's threat to kill Sakura after he'd finished off Shirou, but he didn't say anything as Tony continued his explanation.

Sakura hadn't taken the confession well and had told Tony that she'd never forgive him for her brother's death. Barnett had been solemn and told Sakura that he was willing to accept whatever fate she decided was appropriate for what he'd done.

Sakura had given him a cold stare and said that she'd never wanted to see him again. At those words, Tony had simply nodded and left.

In the days that followed, Shirou realized that Tony was actually making an effort to not be seen around Sakura, despite the fact that he was still staying in Fuyuki and helping out Shirou on a near daily basis. It made things awkward at his house and, eventually, Shirou had gone to Sakura and asked her if she would, if not forgive or forget, then at least to understand that Tony was sincere in his desire to make amends for what he had done and to try and see if they could start fresh.

Sakura had eventually agreed, and Shirou suspected that Rin had been speaking to Sakura about Tony as well.

From then on, Sakura tolerated Tony's presence, though she'd still remained cold to him. It wasn't until recently that she'd begun smiling again, and she had even started talking to Barnett as well.

Breakfast was the usual chaotic and boisterous affair and then Sakura and Taiga had made their way to school. After cleaning up, Shirou had departed as well.

He met Rin at the usual intersection and the two of them made their way toward school. She was probably the one who was least affected by the Grail War, but even she showed the marks of the battles.

She still wore the red leather duster that had been given to her by Harry, restored to its original form after the battle, and her house had been worked on over the last few months. The Tohsaka mansion had always had an air like a haunted house, but Rin had tried to take steps to alleviate that. The vines that had covered the exterior had been removed and the atmosphere seemed less oppressively contained than it once had.

She and Shirou had been working together a lot in the last few months. She was still working on improving his fundamentals with magecraft and, with Tony's assistance, they were actually making a little progress.

"Did you hear?" Rin asked. "Kotomine church has finally gotten a new priest."

"I did, actually," Shirou said.

"And Tony said that the restoration work on Ryuudou temple has been going along nicely as well."

"Tony?" Shirou asked.

"What?" Rin asked.

"You said Tony just now. Not Barnett."

Rin's cheeks turned red. "No I didn't," she told him, a little too quickly to be convincing. "I'm sure you're just confused."

Shirou couldn't resist. "Admit it," he said. "You're actually rather close now, aren't you?"

"We are not!" Rin snapped, her ears now turning red as well. "We've just working together a lot reinforcing your house and in my role as the Second Owner. That's all!"

"If you say so," Shirou said, smiling.

 _"Anyway,"_ Rin said, adding extra emphasis on the word. "It looks like everything is just about normal again."

They continued their walk for a while longer before Rin stopped and turned to face him.

"What?" Shirou asked.

"Sakura told me you've been spending a lot of time in your workshop lately," she said, carefully.

Shirou sighed. "I have," he admitted.

"If you're going to insist on doing this," Rin told him. "Then you can't afford to run yourself into the ground, Shirou."

"I know," he said. "But-"

"And if you continue on like this," Rin continued, cutting him off. "You'll just end up being lost, and if you're not careful, you'll lose yourself, just like he did."

Shirou fell silent.

He knew his search was going to be a long and difficult one, but he wasn't going to stop. He'd sworn that he would find her, and that he wouldn't stop searching until he'd found a way to her.

"Maybe you're right," he finally said. Then he turned and began walking away.

"Emiya?" Rin asked.

"Go on without me," he called back. "I just want to check something out quick. I'll be at school, I promise."

He made his way to the bridge where he and Saber had argued, and where everything had changed between them.

He leaned against the railing and looked out over the shining water of the river.

His life had changed forever thanks to the Holy Grail War. He'd gone through life wanting to be a hero of justice, and he still planned to follow that path. Only now he was going to wear a different mantle.

He would be a Knight, one who went out and righted the wrongs of the world around him, and worked to create peace within the realm of his king.

Shirou closed his eyes, remembering what he saw each night when he closed his eyes.

He would dream about the place. Whenever he slept, he would always dream of the world of swords that Archer had shown him. It wasn't the ruined wasteland of his other self, but rather a fertile, green landscape with a bright, clear, blue sky. The swords rose from the ground, not as death markers, but as silent momentos of craftsmanship and memory.

He would stand at the top of a hill and stare at the infinite world of swords, shields, and armor. And he would stare at the tree that had appeared in that world, one that had never been in the one Archer created. It was a tree he hadn't ever seen himself, but the one where he knew his King had laid down to rest. Where she had gone to into the everlasting paradise of Avalon to wait for him.

He would always remember the woman he'd fallen in love with, and that image would always guide him and inspire him into greatness.

Sometimes that was all it took to become a hero. To listen to the tales of greatness gone past and decide to rise up and take the mantle and continue the tale. Not everyone had the power, or skill needed to become a hero. Those who became inspired, but would not fight, were the ones who took up the mantle of storytellers, spreading the tales of heroes to the world, giving them fame and inspiring still more. But he knew that he had the power.

Shirou Emiya would go out into the world and bring back the legends of knights. And, one day, he would find his beloved.

 _I am the bone of my sword_

 _Steel is my body and glass is my heart._

 _I have created over a thousand blades_

 _Aware of loss_

 _And hopeful of gain._

 _I have withstood pain to create so many weapons_

 _Ever striding toward utopia._

 _I have but one regret,_

 _This is the only path._

 _My life was always Unlimited Blade Works._

* * *

 **Author's note: And thus ends the Fifth Holy Grail War. This story has been a trip, ladies and gents. It's been quite a blast working this out and sharing it all out with you. Has this been perfect? I doubt it, but I am very very happy with how this story has turned out. I got to add some of my favorite characters from other franchises to a story that was already fun and interesting and cause a little extra chaos and character development. My favorite character to work with here was Harry Dresden. He's gone through so much in his own stories and when I added him here, I realized that I had someone who could understand and relate to both Rin and Shirou and help them out (especially this slightly more theoretical Dresden, who exists slightly outside the** _ **Dresden Files,**_ **because I was working from the standpoint that he had finally passed on and so could correct any mistakes he still might make in the actual books, such as trying to actually be a father figure for someone).**

 **Adding the others was just icing on the cake. Link's ability to help both Saber and Shirou was fun, and Sinon's ability to throw a wrench in everyone's plans was just amazing. I could go on and on about writing this story, but I'm going to stop myself here.  
I do have something I'd like to ask you all. I want to add something… interesting to this story before I mark it as completed, and I'd like your help.  
I've been trying to find theme songs for all of the characters. Just a single song whose lyrics and music encapsulates the core behind the characters. I've got the music for most of the characters, but I'm still a few songs short. I would love it if you guys could PM me some suggestions, I would be grateful. You all have an outside perception of this story and your own tastes in music, so you might think of something I wouldn't.  
I'm missing themes for: Shirou, Saber, Rin, Shinji, Hercules, Kuzuki, and Kirei.  
Any help you could give me would be appreciated!**

 **Knight of Fate: Grog is certainly a tough cookie. And, no Dresden's death curse was not a Critical Role reference. That's actually a thing wizards in the Dresden Files can do. If they have a few seconds before they're killed, they can lay out a curse on a target that can do some pretty devastating damage, or cause any number of long-term effects on the target. Dresden's a magical brawler, and not even Grog's huge pool of hit points, his ability to survive lethal damage, and Command Seals can completely stop a Death Curse with that much power in it and enhanced with Hellfire.  
Thank you. I'm glad you've enjoyed the story. :)**

 **1eragon33: And now the War is over, and there was a little something extra in the end there, for Link. :)**

 **TESTimon: Hello! And thank you very much for leaving your review! :D  
I'm thrilled that you've enjoyed your experience with this story. I actually used a bit of everything here. The Visual Novel, as well as the Stay/Night and UBW animes, and, of course, the collection of series I took the Secondary Servants from.  
You're very welcome about Illya. The poor girl has suffered far too much already, and doesn't deserve to die. I hope you enjoy what I've done for Shirou at the end here, as well. :)**

 **Welp, the War is over. The Grail has been destroyed. As the saying goes: All good things must come to an end. Thank you all so much. For the viewership, the favorites, and follows, and especially the reviews. Thank you all so much for everything.  
Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review!  
Thanks for reading!**


	86. Chapter 85: Good Ending

**Chapter 85**

" _You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."_ \- attributed to Dr. Suess

Shirou and Rin stood over Kirei's body, completely silent. Rin's eyes seemed to glow with her satisfaction. She didn't feel happy, but she didn't mourn Kotomine either.

Shirou just felt… empty. He didn't feel joy, or sorrow, or even regret at what he had done. Kirei's death had been necessary, to save the city, the world, Rin, Saber, and himself.

 _"If you could do it again,"_ a voice seemed to whisper from next to Shirou. _"Would you do it differently?"_

"No," Shirou said. "I wouldn't have."

 _"Then what you did was necessary,"_ the voice replied. _"Don't let it pull you down."_

Shirou brow furrowed and he glanced around, but didn't see anyone other than Rin with him. That voice. It was… But that was impossible.

"Harry?" he asked to the empty air. Rin locked her gaze onto Shirou.

"You heard him too?" she asked. Shirou nodded. "Then that means…" Rin said, her voice drifting into silence. Then she ran away from the portal the Grail had opened and toward the forest that surrounded the temple.

"Tohsaka!" Shirou called after her.

"Take care of Illya and the Grail!" she shouted back. "I have to check something before it's too late!"

"But!" Shirou shouted, but Rin was already gone. He sighed and then made his way toward the portal that still spilled dark mud. Whatever mud was near him hardened and disappeared as the light from the twin swords fell upon it, creating a safe path for him to walk.

As he reached Illya, he stabbed both weapons into the ground and lifted his arms. As if waiting for the signal, Illya's prone form dropped from the air and into his arms.

With a muttered _"Trace on,"_ and a small amount of mana, Shirou projected a blanket and wrapped the unconscious girl in the cloth. Illya's breath warmed a small part of Shirou's arm and her lips moved in a small smile.

Footsteps approached, two sets of them, and then Saber spoke.

"We will destroy the Holy Grail, Shirou."

"Where's Rin?" Link asked.

"She ran off after the fighting was done," Shirou told him. "She said she needed to check something before it was too late."

Link made a thoughtful sound. "I suppose it can't be helped," he said. "But it's time to finish this."

Link and Saber made their way past Shirou and lifted their swords. Silence reigned for what felt like an eternity. Then, Saber spoke.

"I sought you," she said, directing her words to the portal of the Holy Grail. "My life, and my death became bound to you. I chose to pursue you with all of my being. I chose to rely on the power you could offer me to aid me in my moment of doubt.

"I made the wrong choice. I make a new choice now.

"I reject you. I choose to stand by my oath. I choose to be a King. I choose to fight and stand by my beliefs, my dreams.

"I made a kingdom that will live forever in the hearts of the world. My knights will continue their journeys. I will continue to serve my country. And I can do that beside the man I love."

Saber and Link lifted their swords.

The Holy Sword of Excalibur blazed into golden light and the twin swords Shirou had used faded away into errant sparks as he poured whatever mana he could into his Servant, to make sure the job was done.

Blinding blue light blazed from Link as he readied the Fierce Deity's blade.

" _ **Ex-"**_

 _ **"Fierce Deity's Mask!"**_

 _ **"-caliber!"**_

With twin battle cries, Saber and Link unleashed their attacks upon the Holy Grail. The two blasts of holy and divine light met and twisted together as they touched the black void that was the Grail and utterly destroyed it with a blinding explosion of light and sound.

And, just for the briefest of instants, Shirou thought he heard a horrible, terrifying scream of rage before the portal disappeared for good.

* * *

Rin ran through the forest as fast as she could. She had to be sure. If there was even the slightest chance that he was still alive, she had to see him.

Rin ran as fast as she could, propelled forward by a searing hope burning in her chest. She burst out of the trees and then she saw him.

He stood at the top of a clear hill, looking out over the forest. He wasn't the same as she remembered him.

His form was translucent and his feet didn't leave a mark on the ground. A small breeze drifted past them and the grass under him moved in time with the wind, even though his duster did not.

"Harry?" Rin asked, her voice, little more than a whisper.

He turned to face her and gave her a small smile. Her heart ached at the sight and she realized what was happening.

"You're not actually here, are you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Not all of me," he answered. "I died once, but my spirit stuck around because the circumstances of that death were not of my choosing, even if it looked like it to me at the time. So I was given the chance to discover what had actually happened to me, and solve my own murder." He gestured down as his translucent form. "Just before I let loose with my Death Curse, I used my Phantasm to take just a small portion of me, and turn it into my ghost. Just to keep an eye on you before the war ended. Now that it's done, I'll just fade away."

"But, you don't have to," Rin told him. She lifted her right hand, which still held the single Command Seal bound to him. "You can stay here. I can give you mana."

Harry tilted his head from side to side. "Technically true, I suppose. But, I don't think it's a good idea. You don't need me, Rin. You have everything you need back there," and he pointed back where she'd come from. "You have Shirou, and Sakura, and your other friends at school. You even have Tony. You're a strong, stubborn, and powerful girl. You're going to change the world Rin, I know it.

"My job here is done, the case is closed, and the world isn't too worse for wear. It's my time to go. Okay?"

Rin closed her eyes so that she wouldn't have to see them blur from unshed tears. A hand suddenly laid itself on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise. She opened her eyes to see Harry, standing in front of her, now in physical form.

Before she could move, before she could do anything, he laid a kiss on her forehead. "Do me a favor, Rin," he said. "Make sure Shirou doesn't get into too much trouble. He's a Knight now, and he's going to want to fulfill his duty. Make sure it doesn't overwhelm him. Make sure he knows how to get home again."

Rin met his eyes and steeled herself. "By my Command Seal," she said, her voice strong and clear. The small pentagram that had remained on her hand, even after Harry's technical death, flashed with a pulse of blue light as Rin spoke her command. "Become fully restored."

Harry's eyes went wide at Rin's words and she felt the draw on her mana restart briefly as her Servant became whole once again. Then the Seal disappeared and the contract between them was severed.

"Rin," Harry said, his voice gaining the firm power of a disappointed parent. "What are you doing?"

"You're wrong," she told him, her voice firm. "I still need you. Because I have a wish. And I don't need the stupid Grail to grant it."

She met his eyes squarely and they simply stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Then Harry sighed heavily.

"Well, I'm a sucker for a pretty face," he said. "You realize that once the Grail blows up, I'm gone anyway, right?"

Rin smiled and held up her other hand, the one bearing the Command Seals tied to Link. "Not if I forge a new pact with you at the last moment."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And, what if I say no?"

Rin narrowed her eyes.

* * *

As the Holy Grail disappeared, and Shirou set Illya careful onto the ground. Link smiled ferociously.

"One more cycle," he said. "Darkness has been destroyed one more time." He grinned at Shirou. "It was a blast," he told him. "Thank you for being my Master, Shirou. Wield the Master Sword well, and make it known that it's radiance will always come to banish the darkness." And then he faded away, his anchor to the world disappearing with the Holy Grail.

Then, agony blazed through Shirou's body. Pain so intense and widespread that he had no choice but to simply collapse onto the ground and try to survive.

By sheer force of will, he managed to turn his gaze toward Saber, only to see her also on the ground, her expression set in one of sheer determination. She hadn't disappeared with Link. She was still here. She was… fighting to stay behind.

The realization slammed into Shirou like a speeding truck and the idea crystallized in his mind, forcing him to realize what was happening.

Servants only existed to fight in the Holy Grail War, the presence of the Grail making their existence easier. But, when the Grail disappeared, that ease of existence disappeared as well, and the price had to fall somewhere. So it had simply shifted to the only other anchor Saber had left: him.

Shirou had power, but he didn't have anywhere near enough to sustain Saber's existence. But if the connection was lost, then she'd disappear.

The desire to have her stay drew out a reserve of strength Shirou hadn't realized he'd had. He made his way to Saber despite the agony burning through his body and managed to grasp her hand.

"Saber," he managed to groan through the pain.

"Shirou," she replied, her eyes reflecting how torn she was feeling. By fighting to stay in existence, she was inflicting harm onto Shirou, but if she disappeared, that would also hurt him.

"Shirou!" someone shouted.

"Jesus Christ!" someone else shouted. "Is she trying to stay?"

Footsteps pounded the ground and someone dropped next to him.

"Shirou?" Sakura asked, her voice sounding desperate. "Shirou!"

"Sakura," Shirou groaned. It was all he was able to say. His circuits flared and strained as his body tried to fulfill the contract he was bound to and provide the necessary energy for his familiar.

More footsteps came to him and Tony was placed on the ground next to them by Leysritt. Tony pulled a knife from a pocket and cut into his palm and squeezing his hand. Then he unceremoniously thrust his hand over Saber's mouth.

Saber recoiled but, at a word from Tony, Sakura grabbed the back of the Servant's head and held her in place.

"Drink it, Saber," he told her. "If you want him to survive the next few seconds, you have to drink it."

Saber hesitated for only a fraction of a moment before Shirou saw her throat shift and the agony he felt began to lessen slightly.

"Shirou," Tony said. "You have to break your contract with her. If she's going to try and stay, then she needs a more powerful energy source. Your circuits can't handle the strain."

 _This agony would have to go to someone else?_ Shirou thought. He wasn't sure he could do that. He couldn't put this pain onto anyone.

"Shirou, please," he heard Sakura beg. "You'll die if you keep doing this."

 _It's fine if I die,_ Shirou thought hazily. _But, if I do, then Saber will disappear._ That thought galvanized some part of his fading mind and he managed to pull his trigger.

 _"T-Trace on,"_ he said and projected Rulebreaker. Pain returned to him as his mana supply grew even lower and his vision began to fail.

"Shit," he heard Tony say. "I think he's starting to go."

"No," Sakura said. Someone took the dagger from Shirou's hand and the pain just vanished like smoke in a sudden breeze. Then he was lost in darkness.

* * *

Rin awoke in her own bed, not to the sound of her alarm clock as she'd expected, but to the sound of someone playing a guitar. The player played a few notes, then stopped. Then played them again and stopped. Then the song took off in earnest and the music flowed into her room through the door kept slightly open.

The previous night activities were all a blur of fighting and frenzied activity. She remembered eventually having everyone come to her house, since it was large enough to accommodate everyone and it was the only one of the group's major residences that was still standing after the Grail War.

The Grail. They'd managed to destroy it. Along with Kirei and Gilgamesh. And then she'd found Harry's ghost, still trying to protect her. Then…

A moment later, a voice began to sing. His singing voice wasn't the best, but it felt honest. His playing, on the other hand, was considerably better than his singing.

The lyrics, sung in english, came to her through the door.

 _"_ _Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time."_

Rin rose from her bed and made her way to the door. She slid it open silently and made her way to her living room..

" _It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life."_

Rin reached the door and silently slid it open as well. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden sat in a chair in her living room, playing a second hand guitar with his eyes mostly shut. He didn't seem to notice Rin's presence, and she was simply too surprised to make any sort of motion or sound. As she watched, the faint sound of an orchestra drifted into her thoughts, complementing the strumming of the guitar chords as Harry continued to sing.

" _So take the photographs, and still-frames in your mind. Hang them on a shelf in good health and good time. Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial. For what it's worth, it was worth all the while._

" _It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life."_

He continued to play, not opening his eyes or appearing to have a single care in the entire world.

" _It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life."_

His playing began to slow as he reached the end of the song, the notes repeating the ones she had heard at the opening of the performance. _"It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life."_

He continued to play for a moment longer, ending the song with one final strumming of strings and opening his eyes.

His dark orbs met her blue ones and they locked gazes for a moment that felt like an eternity. There was no doubt about it. They'd already taken the measure of each other's souls, so they could look into each other's eyes without fear.

"Morning, Rin," he said. "You sleep well?"

Her response was instinctive, immediate, and visceral. She hurled a pillow she happened to have been holding on to directly into the wizard's face.

 _"Good morning?!"_ she demanded. _"That's_ the first thing you say to me after I wake up wondering if last night was all a bizarre dream?! _How did I sleep?!"_

Harry burst out into a long, hearty, belly laugh. He almost dropped his guitar as he laughed and Rin's anger cracked as she listened to the Caster laugh.

A moment later, her own laughter joined his.

"It worked," she eventually said. "You're still here."

"Of course it worked," Harry replied. "You were quite motivated. I wasn't the tricky one to keep around."

"What are earth is that supposed to mean?" Rin demanded, her sleepiness suddenly forgotten.

"Let's just say that forgetting a glaring detail isn't always an exclusive flaw," Harry answered, with an amused flash of his eyes.

* * *

Shirou woke up somewhere unfamiliar. For one thing, he was laying in a western style bed, rather than his futon. The room around him was also styled in the western fashion, rather than the Japanese style paneling he was used to.

"Where am I?" he asked. The last thing he clearly remembered was Saber and Link destroying the Grail.

"Have I been asleep this whole time?" he asked. He climbed out of bed and found a pile of clothes neatly folded beside it. He dressed and noticed that his wounds were missing once again, and so were his Command Seals.

His heart fell. Saber was gone. He vaguely remembered pain, and a struggle after the Grail had been destroyed, but it appeared that Saber was gone forever.

He finished dressing and left the guest room, finding and making his way down the stairs. The smell of cooking food wafted to him and he zeroed in on it. Where there was cooking food, there would be someone making it. Where there were people, there would be answers.

As he reached the door, he heard the sound of people talking and scattered laughter. Rin and Tony's voices were instantly recognizable. After a moment he realized he could hear Illya's voice as well.

He couldn't help but give a tiny smile at that. She had survived. They managed to save her.

Another moment passed and then, of all things, _Dresden's_ voice came through the closed door, telling some kind of story or joke. As he finished, he heard laughter, including Sakura's, in reply. And then he heard it. A single melodious laugh from a voice he hadn't expected to ever hear again.

With stiff movements, he opened the door to the dining room connected to a kitchen.

Tony, Illya, and Sakura were all sitting around a table with freshly cooked breakfast in front of them. Sella and Leysritt were setting the last few plates on the table, and Harry was just sitting back down, having finished his story. Sitting beside the wizard was Saber, who was eyeing the food out of the corner of her eye in a way Shirou remembered from so many meals with her.

Everyone stopped as the door opened and they turned to look at him. He met Saber's eyes and nothing else existed for a single, crystalline moment.

Then Saber smiled.

"Good morning, Shirou," she said.

"It's you, right?" he asked, his voice faint and breathless. "It really is you?"

"Of course it's me," Saber answered, her voice almost playful. "Who else would I be?"

Harry snorted, trying, and mostly failing, to conceal his laughter.

"Emiya," Tony said. "The food's gonna get cold."

"Uh," Shirou replied. "Right."

Shirou sat down next to Saber, and Illya tried to sit next to Shirou, but Sakura forced her to change seats. Illya pouted at that, but it was surprisingly good natured about it.

They were all about 10 seconds into eating breakfast when Shirou just couldn't wait anymore.

"But, how?" he asked. "How're you still here?"

"Ole Gil said it, didn't he?" Harry replied around some food. He swallowed and continued. "So long as a mage provides a Servant with mana, they can stick around after the War." He pointed at Rin. "Rin just extended my contract. She's got enough power to keep me going for a while. Long enough to work out energy costs on a long term basis."

"Okay, but," Shirou said. "I can't be maintaining Saber. Archer was a jerk, but he was right about that. I can't maintain a full Servant."

Harry raised a finger. "You can't maintain a Servant _outside_ the Grail War," he corrected. "You're more than capable to do it during one, though."

"But," Rin said. "Archer was Emiya, at least mostly. Why wouldn't he be right about the strain it would place on Emiya's circuits?"

Harry gave Rin a significant look. "For the same reason that Shirou could project a weapon as powerful as Caliburn to kill Hercules without backlash. Because I helped you fix his heart."

Shirou dropped his utensils and stared at Rin in amazement.

"It was you?" he asked. "You saved me?"

Sakura looked just as surprised as Shirou, while Rin's face flushed and she glared at Harry. Dresden, for his part, seemed surprised as well.

"Oh," he said. "I thought you'd figured that out already, Shirou. Archer as much as told you before you threw down with him. I assumed that would have made it perfectly obvious."

Shirou blinked. When phrased like that, he felt kind of stupid for _not_ figuring it out.

"Soulfire really is amazing stuff," Harry continued. "It's a creative force, not really meant for destructive magic. When I added it to Rin's spell to make sure the reconstruction would stick, it made the healing more efficient and repaired the atrophied circuits in your body, Shirou. I finally had some spare time last night after the fighting to check you out. You have a complete set of fully functioning magic circuits, unlike Archer, whose circuits had never fully healed from their lack of use."

"Okay," Shirou said, still trying to sort out the deluge of new information. "But what does that have to do with Saber still being here?"

"Well, use your head, Shirou" Harry said, reaching past Saber and poking Shirou's forehead. "Given that you can only maintain a Servant during a Grail War, who else in this room has circuits powerful enough to do it after the War?"

Shirou looked at Tony. "You're Saber's Master now?" he asked. He couldn't help the flash of jealousy that surged through him at the thought.

Barnett shook his head. "I was going to," he said, his voice wry. "After you managed to project Rulebreaker, I was going to take and use it on Saber before we lost you. But someone else was a bit quicker off the mark."

Shirou blinked and glanced at Illya, who simply shook her head. Then he turned to face Sakura, whose face had gone very red with embarrassment.

"I-" she said, and stopped. "I- I just wanted to keep you safe. Y-you were in pain and I just…"

Shirou just smiled. "That was brave of you," he said. "Thank you, Sakura."

Sakura's expression turned even redder and she couldn't make eye contact with Shirou, but she also seemed to glow at the praise.

"We'll have to work out energy management and planning later," Harry said. "But, for now, we're all fine. We're alive, and neither Saber nor I are going anywhere."

Rin gave Shirou a look. "It's going to be problematic if you don't get some serious training, so Saber is going to be continuing your combat training, and Harry and I are going to see to your magic training."

"I-" Sakura said. "I wouldn't mind some more training as well."

Rin beamed at her sister. "I'd love to help you, Sakura."

"Welp," Tony said. "Get ready, Emiya. I think we're all going to run you ragged starting today."

Shirou smiled. Then he stopped, remembering something that had seemed so trivial a few weeks ago.

"Alright," he said. "But it'll be tomorrow."

"Why?" Rin asked.

"There's just something I need to do today," Shirou replied.

* * *

Ayako Mitsuzuri walked into the archery dojo feeling on guard. The last time she'd come in here, something strange had happened and she still had no clear memory of the event. Receiving a strange message about coming back only made the sense of unease worse.

Honestly, if the message hadn't been from Emiya, she would have simply ignored it. School would be starting back up soon, so she'd be back here running the club, but she couldn't help but be a little nervous.

As she entered, she caught sight of Emiya standing at the range, a bow in his hand and taking shots at the mounted targets.

As she closed the door, he stopped and turned to face her.

"Emiya," she said. "I have to say, this is a surprise. Why'd you want to see me here, of all places? You could've just waited until school started back up."

"It wasn't anything much," he answered. "And I'm sorry for putting you out like this."

"Okay, but that's not an answer," she said.

"Isn't it important to tell the captain of a club that she has a new member?" he asked.

Mitsuzuri blinked in surprise. "Emiya?"

Shirou smiled at her. "What were those jokes you were telling at that training camp?"

The sight of that smile filled Mitsuzuri with warmth that completely dispelled her slight trepidation from before.

* * *

 **Author's note: … Wow… Just… Wow… I can't begin to say how grateful I am to you all. It's so different from the inside of a story. When I look at Fate/Fantasy, I feel pride at how well this project has gone. But seeing your reactions to the end, both public and private, has been absolutely mind blowing. Seriously, thank you. Thank you all so much.**

 **Also, when I said I wanted to add something interesting before I completed the story, I might have been lying about the timing a little bit. Because why the Hell would I simply leave it there? I know extra endings are more of a non-canon timeline thing, but Sunny Days is a favorite scene of mine, and I realized the instant I saw it that I had to do my own little spin on it. So, here is Fate/Fantasy's Good Ending. I also want to quickly thank Freezingreality for the idea behind the very last scene. As I believe I've said before, that scene with Mitsuzuri about Shirou smiling is a personal favorite of mine, so bringing it back at this point felt very good.**

 **Prisontaker: I still have some fate content in mind for other projects, but I'm not so sure about going quite** _ **that**_ **far yet. I haven't had much experience with Grand Order yet, though.**

 **TheInvisibleMan33: ...I… I don't… Thank you. Thank you so much. I think that's the highest praise I've ever gotten for something I've written. Thank you.**

 **Celian Cogitore: You are very welcome. It's been one hell of a ride.**

 **1eragon33: I thought you might enjoy that. :) I actually think you were the inspiration for that scene too. I can't remember exactly when I thought of it, but I think it was around the time you started suggesting Shirou go to Hyrule.**

 **Hero of Justice Roxas: You are very welcome. :) And, for your theme suggestion. I'm gonna look it over again because it might work. The overwhelming trend with the themes I've chosen have been songs with lyrics, (with only one exception) but I'm gonna look it over more thoroughly before I make a decision. As for projects… -evil smile-**

 **SentinelSlice: Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm going to miss this story too, but I have a few other ideas that are in the works.**

 **Knight of Fate: You are very welcome. And I wish I could convey the way I lit up when I realized that Harry had that last trick. The** _ **Dresden Files**_ **is one the most powerful Noble Phantasms I've ever created** _ **precisely**_ **because it can do crap like that. :) I hope to see you when I get to work on my other projects as well, and don't worry about burn out. My policy is to have a very large backlog of content before I start releasing a story. I've had this story personally finished for a while now. I've been using the time it bought me to reset my brain and build up more backlog for my next story.**

 **Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros: Thanks for the theme suggestions! I'm working my way through them.**

 **I'll have my fun little extra thing done in a few days, but until then, I'm still open for character theme suggestions. I still need themes for Shirou, Saber, Rin, Shinji, and Kirei.**

 **Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review! Favorites in particular are going to come into play with my little addition (sorry following exclusives, there are just too many usernames to sift through and compare when I tried to use both lists).**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	87. Servant Stats

**Servant class: Saber**

\- Master: Shirou Emiya

\- True name: Link (Twilight Princess Link)

\- Sex: male

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: A

\- Endurance: B

\- Agility: B

\- Magical Energy: E

\- Luck: C

\- Noble Phantasm: B

 _Class abilities:_

\- Magic resistance: A*

\- Riding: B

 _Skills:_

\- Mind's eye true: A

\- Magic satchel: B

\- This skill allows a Servant to access an extradimensional space for storing equipment and other items. At the B rank, equipment is either completely attuned to the bearer, or attuned to the specific needs of a highly organized group. The items desired do not actually have to be pulled from the satchel at this level, but simply appear when they are focused on by the bearer of the satchel.

\- Wolf shape: NA

\- A defensive skill for Twilight Princess Link for when he is cursed by dark magic. Instead of being affected by the spell, he is transformed into his wolf form for an indeterminate amount of time.

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- Triforce of Courage: A plus, personal

\- This passive phantasm grants Link the ability to rapidly heal from injuries and access the battle knowledge and memories of his previous lives. It also grants him a level of supernatural awareness to dangerous surprises, as well as enhancing his magic satchel skill to allow him to access items from those other lives as well.

\- Shield of Hyrule: B, Barrier

\- The signature shield of the Hero of Hyrule enhances Link's anti-magic skill to the A rank. When used as a Phantasm, to create a barrier that can repel most powerful attacks and magical forces that meet it.

\- Blade of Evil's Bane: B plus, anti-personnel

\- The true unlocked power of the Master Sword. When activated, the Master Sword unleashes the Sol infused into the blade from the realm of Twilight and grants its wielder access the true power hidden within the blade from ancient days.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: Nathan Sharp

* * *

 **Servant class: Lancer**

\- Master: Sakura Matou

\- True name: Pyrrha Nikos

\- Sex: female

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: B

\- Endurance: B

\- Agility: A

\- Magical Energy: C

\- Luck: D

\- Noble Phantasm: A

 _Class abilities:_

\- Aura: B+

\- A skill for heroes from Remnant which replaces one class ability. This skill boosts the defensive abilities of the Servant. At this level, the user has complete control of their aura and, as a Servant, can even move the energy more directly than they could in Remnant.

 _Skills:_

\- Marksmanship: B

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- Polarity: A, anti-personnel

\- This pseudo-passive phantasm is an enhancement of Pyrrha's Semblance, allowing her to use her powers over the forces of magnetism without fear of losing aura or gaining fatigue through its use. Furthermore, the Semblance is not limited to purely pherric metals.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: Jen Brown

* * *

 **Servant class: Archer**

\- Master: Tony Barnett

\- True name: Sinon

\- Sex: Female

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: B

\- Endurance: C

\- Agility: B

\- Magical Energy: E

\- Luck: C

\- Noble Phantasm: B plus

 _Class abilities:_

\- Independent action: C, 1 day

\- Presence concealment: D

 _Skills:_

\- Marksmanship: A plus

\- At this level, it is less of a skill than it is an art form.

\- Magic: D

\- Different from the Magecraft skill in that it follows much more defined rules than magecraft and related modes of magic. At the D rank, the user has limited ability and a distinct skill set or specialization with their magic.

\- Magic satchel: D

\- This skill allows a Servant to access an extradimensional space for storing equipment and other items. At the D rank, the bearer is not affected by the weight of the items and are only allowed items that they are known to have had and can use. The user must also equip or pull items from the satchel in the manner that they are used to.

\- Clairvoyance: B

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- Hecate rifle: B plus, anti-personnel

\- This phantasm allows Sinon to use her beloved Hecate rifle as a mystic code not unlike the bow of an Archer class Servant. The weapon has no need to change magazines. As an anti-material rifle, it gains bonuses against barriers, armor, and other modes of reinforcement.

\- Bullet of Bullets: B, anti-army

\- This Marble Phantasm recreates the environment and combatants of GGO's third Bullet of Bullets battle royale, calling the players of that tournament to her side as lesser Servants and allies. As a marble phantasm, Sinon has some control of the initial settings of the world, but is also bound to the same rules as everyone inside the marble.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: Michelle Ruff

* * *

 **Servant class: Rider**

\- Master: Illyasviel von Einzbern

\- True name: Ghost Rider

\- Sex: male

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: C

\- Endurance: C

\- Agility: B

\- Magical Energy: A plus

\- Luck: C

\- Noble Phantasm: A

 _Class abilities:_

\- Riding: A

 _Skills:_

\- Spirit of vengeance: A

\- This ability allows a Servant to sense whether an individual is guilty or innocent of committing harm to others. At the A rank, the Servant can directly sense truly guilty individuals and understand the scope and depth of their sins.

\- Weapons Mastery: B

\- This skill denotes a Servant's skill with a wide variety of weapons. It is notable in that it specifically references skill with a wide variety of weaponry rather than specifics. At the B rank, the Servant is skilled with most weapons and a master of specific weapons.

-Solar weakness: A plus

\- Wherever true sunlight touches this Servant, his powers are completely useless. Even other sources of sunlight can potentially affect Ghost Rider, so long as they are of a certain proximity or intensity.

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- Phantasmal conversion: A plus, anti-personnel

\- This Phantasm allows Ghost Rider to imbue objects with Hellfire in order to alter them to better suit his purposes and bring them under his control. At the A rank, he can bring them into a semblance of life to serve as minions.

\- Penance Stare: C, anti-personnel

\- If Ghost Rider makes locked eye contact with a target, he can show them the collected experiences of their sins against victims. This effect is utterly devastating, but not lethal to spiritual beings like Servants. It appears to be a phantasm more effective against Masters or as a method of breaking/ incapacitating a Servant.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: Nicolas Cage

* * *

 **Servant class: Caster**

\- Master: Rin Tohsaka

\- True name: Harry Dresden

\- Sex: male

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: C

\- Endurance: B

\- Agility: C

\- Magical Energy: A plus

\- Luck: E

\- Noble Phantasm: ?

 _Class abilities:_

\- Little Chicago: A

\- Replacing the territory creation skill, this skill allows Dresden to create a perfect model of the city where his workshop is located. In effect, whatever Little Chicago models can act like his territory, allowing him to make use of his magic throughout the city the model imitates.

\- Item Creation: B

 _Skills:_

\- Independent action: C, 1 day

\- Magic resistance: C plus

\- Soulfire: B

\- Also known as the fires of creation, Soulfire acts mostly as a creative force. It can be used to magic and other abilities to reinforce its reality and make it harder to defend against. It can also be used to make a spell more _real,_ combining with the nature of the spell to allow it to act in a different manner. At the B rank, Soulfire can be used with regularity and can recover at an appreciable rate.

\- Hellfire: B

\- The demonic equivalent to Soulfire, Hellfire boosts the destructive capability of an ability or spell, making it harder to defend against. At the B rank, Hellfire can be used with regularity and can overcome greater levels of defense.

\- Supernatural awareness: B

\- The ability to sense and perceive forces and actions that are not natural. Combined with a natural ability to pay attention to detail, this skill can become devastating on an attempt to surprise or perform subterfuge.

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- The Dresden Files: E-A plus, yes

\- The collected cases and experiences of the wizard/private investigator Harry Dresden. This Phantasm allows him to call upon the things he worked with and faced against in the line of his work, so long as those things are below a certain metaphysical mass.

\- The Mantle of Winter: C, anti-personnel

\- The full and unrestricted power of the Mantle of the Winter Knight. This Phantasm does more than simply let Harry access the power of the Mantle, since he is able to draw upon the power whenever he wishes, instead it lets Winter take control of how he moves, fights, and thinks, turning him into a devastating fighter and predator.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: James Marsters

* * *

 **Servant class: Assassin**

\- Master: ?

\- True name: Ezio Auditore da Firenze

\- Sex: male

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: C

\- Endurance: E

\- Agility: A

\- Magical Energy: C

\- Luck: B

\- Noble Phantasm: C

 _Class abilities:_

\- Presence Concealment: B

 _Skills:_

\- Weapon Mastery: B

\- This skill denotes a Servant's skill with a wide variety of weapons. It is notable in that it specifically references skill with a wide variety of weaponry rather than specifics. At the B rank, the Servant is skilled with most weapons and a master of specific weapons.

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- Brotherhood of Assassins: C, anti-personnel

\- As the master Assassin who rebuilt the Assassin Brotherhood on national scale, Ezio is able to call upon the combat resources of the Brotherhood he helped create. This includes other assassins and other methods of attack.

\- Apple of Eden: C, anti-army

\- The full power of the strange device known as the Apple of Eden, this Phantasm allows Ezio to use the Apple's power to affect the minds of those around him, allowing him to control their movements, perceptions, and even how they think. This effect is limited by anti-magic or by those whose will is unnaturally strong against outside influence.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: Roger Craig Smith

* * *

 **Servant class: Berserker**

\- Master: Kirei Kotomine

\- True name: Grog Strongjaw

\- Sex: Male

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: A

\- Endurance: A

\- Agility: C

\- Magical Energy: E

\- Luck: D

\- Noble Phantasm: A

 _Class abilities:_

\- Madness: E

 _Skills:_

\- Danger sense: B

\- Similar to the Instinct skill, it is nearly impossible to completely surprise this hero without a presence concealment.

\- Battle continuation: A

\- Berserk: A

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- Titanstone Knuckles: A, anti-castle

\- This Noble Phantasm augments Grog's physical abilities and allows him to grow in size. Damage he inflicts while using this phantasm is increased as if he is a battering ram breaking down a fortress.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: Travis Willingham

* * *

 **Servant class: Saber**

\- Master: Rin Tohsaka

\- True name: Link (Young Link)

\- Sex: male

 _Stats:_

\- Strength: B

\- Endurance: B

\- Agility: A

\- Magical Energy: C

\- Luck: C

\- Noble Phantasm: B

 _Class abilities:_

\- Magic resistance: A*

\- Riding: B

 _Skills:_

\- Mind's eye true: A

\- Magic satchel: B

\- This skill allows a Servant to access an extradimensional space for storing equipment and other items. At the B rank, equipment is either completely attuned to the bearer, or attuned to the specific needs of a highly organized group. The items desired do not actually have to be pulled from the satchel at this level, but simply appear when they are focused on by the bearer of the satchel.

 _Noble Phantasms:_

\- Triforce of Courage: A plus, personal

\- This passive phantasm grants Link the ability to rapidly heal from injuries and access the battle knowledge and memories of his previous lives. It also grants him a level of supernatural awareness to dangerous surprises, as well as enhancing his magic satchel skill to allow him to access items from those other lives as well.

\- Fierce Deity's Mask: A, anti-castle

\- The most powerful of the masks Link collected while he was battling with Majora. This mask, when donned, enhancing Link to his most powerful and changing him into his adult form and granting him access to enourmous combat power.

\- Ocarina of Time: C plus plus, personal

\- While not as powerful in this incarnation, the ocarina gives Link access to the flow of time and world around him provided that he plays the appropriate song.

 _Extra information:_

\- Voice actor: Nathan Sharp


	88. Credits

_**Fate/Fantasy**_

 _Story by_

AgntNevada

 _Directed By_

AgntNevada

 _Executive Producers_

Warden Myst

FreezingReality

 _Producers_

Lord Jaric

Lord of Memory

 _Supervising Producer_

SentinalSlice

 _Co-Producer_

Naruto Sakura Uzumaki

 _Line Producer_

1eragon33

 _Music By_

Hero of Justice Roxas

 _Editor_

Knight of Fate

 _Casting and Voice Direction By_

FreezingReality

 _Cast_

Bryce Papenbrook as Shirou Emiya

Kari Wahlgren as Saber/ Arturia Pendragon

Nathan Sharp as Link and Young Link

Mela Lee as Rin Tohsaka

Kaiji Tang as Archer/ Heroic Spirit Emiya

James Marsters as Harry Dresden and _Dresden Files_ summons

Cristina Valenzuela as Sakura Matou

Kyle McCarley as Shinji Matou

Melissa Fahn as Rider/ Medusa

Jen Brown as Pyrrha Nikos

Stephanie Sheh as Illyasviel von Einzbern

Michael McConnohie as Berserker/ Hercules

Nicolas Cage as Ghost Rider

Lex Lang as Souichirou Kuzuki

Megan Hollingshead as Caster/ Medea

Todd Haberkorn as Assassin/ Kojiro Sasaki

Roger Craig Smith as Ezio Auditore

Crispin Freeman as Kirei Kotomine

Tony Oliver as Lancer/ Cu Chulainn

Travis Willingham as Grog Strongjaw

David Vincent as Gilgamesh

Troy Baker as Tony Barnett

Michelle Ruff as Sinon

Robbie Daymond as Issei Ryuudou

Brina Palencia as Ayako Mitsuzuri

Erica Lindbeck as Makiadera

Dorothy Fahn as Kane Himuro

Jessica DiCicco as Yukika Saegusa

Allison Sumrall as Taiga Fujimura

Rachel Lillis as Sella

Brianna Knickerbocker as Leysritt

Michael Donovan as Zouken Matou

Matthew Mercer as Kiritsugu Emiya

 _Source Materials_

 _Fate/Stay Night_ created by Kinoko Nasu

 _The Dresden Files_ created by Jim Butcher

 _The Legend of Zelda_ created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka

 _Sword Art Online_ created by Reki Kawahara

 _Critical Role_ and the character Grog created by Matthew Mercer and Travis Willingham

Ghost Rider created by Gary Friedrich, Mike Ploog, and Roy Thomas

 _RWBY_ created by Monty Oum

 _Assassin's Creed_ created and written by Ubisoft, Corey May, Joshua Rubin, and Jeffrey Yohalem

Anthony "Tony" Barnett created by Warden Myst

 _Production Managers_

SIMON80420

Slickman

Ryuzaki Uchida

 _Assistant Production Managers_

Enochriel

Culebra del Sol

Cartoonfanatic1

Fernando01516

Rockyweird

 _Lead Character Design_

Anime-Niakz

 _Character Design_

HuntersShadow

 _Prop Design_

Reishin Amara

 _Background Key Design_

xKaizer

TheRisingDragon

Slayer-410

 _Background Paint_

Fal656

With an m16

Sun131

Freechimchangas

 _Color Stylists_

LaminaMorte

ShadowFreddyRaven

Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros

Sgn

ImagInarI

 _Digital Paint_

Ptl

 _Storyboard Artists_

Onisatsu18

C1te

Powerbome

Devil King TOHSAKA

Erithemaeus

Lady Ningrum

Mallador9000

Bone Boy

SynPyre

Ill elemental

Edrolth

ImagineBreaker7

OmniRorek

Calvin9871

Prodigisk

 _Storyboard Revisionists_

Daler1912

Fanfic shuffling

Kisshugkisshug

Kamen Rider Chalice

00Zy99

 _Animation Timing_

PotatoZiriki

Lord harry peverell

Fenrir0612

CAD270895

Japhetat

 _Animation Checking_

The Clownfather

Ichinee772

KhaosDeath

YatogamiKushina

 _Supervising Technical Director_

Darkmaster10000000

 _Effects Animation_

Stribog

Luke1987

Silvey777

DragonMechaKnightX777

 _Animation Services_

Ufotable

 _Animation Directors_

ObsidianUnknown66

Dreameater2579

FierySprites

Gene Devance Time Space Master

Aquirs-Chan

Thunderkitty09

BlaizePascal

 _Animation Coordinators_

Gabriel790

Spartanonxy

Sandmanwake

Legion9511

 _Layout Artists_

Twojj

Silly-Scare-Crow

EdgeColumbus

Dragonbane522

Showbizrex

Sha'Id Alma Sol

Yan31110

FlashLit3

 _Model Checkers_

Castlewood

Ultimate Warrior of Zera

Stoneificaunt

Rider of doom

 _Key Animation_

Lubabpaul

Cherry Kariya

Gundam-Knight-Chris

Theinzmann111

Firefang099

Jack Hunter

Son jamata

Zero1991

DigiXBot

Bog . den99

GokuTheSSJGod2

Zeozio

Lord of Moons

SavageLotus102696

SaurinAlucard

TheFelRoseOfTerror

Time Hollow

Coppa-Cola

ZM

Old Herobrine

Tylordious

Pun Meister

Ibema

Generation Zero

FluffySheepLion

 _Inbetween Supervisors_

Brainiac2000

C . T . G . X

Killgoreslayer21

Rookie-writer . com

 _In-betweeners_

Toscanofrancisco01

MadaraYotsuba

PasiveNox

Swid16kawail

Justtrynahelp11

Darksilver reaper

Ljohnkelmer

Randonagh35

Nonexistence Existence

DarkMatterPhoenix

IR2BMLG

Ndoofs

Longshotqb

PvtNevets

ReisKranc

Greeny619

Lord-of-Walruses

Kanakrow

Chaoslord1324

Carbon1923

StarGazer2326

Kevinspurins67

 _Scan_

Snakey1998

 _Ink and Paint_

SpartanN93

Hash16

5hir0

Strifeguy89

Alfonse08

 _Color Supervisors_

Wyrmcraft

SpringsteenOnTheRoof

Ferpet

 _Composite Director_

JustaNobody86

 _Composition_

Aydenji12

Fenriswolf22

Aceaelus

Captainunknown

Dougcupcake

Blackswordsman2477

DARX26

Keystone0913

 _CGI_

Fictionfreak9

Lilblazemoi0127

KiroZen

 _Final Checkers_

Madrider

Spiritblade

Fallin460855

The Last Order

IcePhenex

 _Background Director_

Kevin Reid

 _Background_

Gungir69

ELEMENTKING5

Rectus22

Tic1 . julio . pellejero

Raven Sparda

GaryFckenOak

Savagemaster1999

B312

Evowizard25

 _Post Production Executive_

Sia Leysritt

 _Post Production Manager_

Jamestine

 _Recording Facility_

Aniplex

 _Recording Machine Operator_

Avatar 101

 _Track Readers_

Shadyxlr

DarknessStorm

Hello2000

Kageshishi

 _Supervising Dialogue/ADR Editor_

TehBdog

 _Dialogue/ADR Editors_

Waid

Kivas Icarus

The romantic insanity

Aurimaskalasinskas

Thatpotatoguywhohas9000lives

 _Online Editor_

Bobothemighty

 _Assistant Editors_

Werewolf1423

JawsOnYou67

Shark The SnowWolf

Blueexorist

 _Casting Administration_

Waytodawn0

BooSlayer64

 _Production Administration_

Xarath

A . U . Writer

 _Production Support_

SpartanRyno

Kat151820

Sugoijack9

Genesis09

Aleksds1

Fliggy91

Finitewounds

Goken LJ

Draco1221

 _Production Accounting_

ManaHero

Exagerate

EruptingFist00

DarkBelowZ

Snoekat

ThoseWeirdPeople

Phant0mZ0ne

 _Business and Legal Affairs_

TheInvisibleMan33

Team zephyr

Absolutezero001

Arielencio0

Celian Cogitore

FanFicReader712012

Cbyte64

Altarius

 _Production Supervision_

Maxus Dragon

 _Production Management_

Arran17

 _Security_

Robin the Ylissian Grandmaster

Roy15 956

Mr. uroboros

Lucifer's Remnants

Pyrojack1

Teamxcution

Xanothos

JammyONE

WolfrSaber

Drobi

Zyrothe

Didar . dulat

Pg2016

Genesicgoogaigarvsgodgundam

Soul reborn

Dante Dark

Silver Remoraid

AspyOtakuGirl

Forget4me

X-keeper 13

GryffinsEye

Twin Fangs of Chaotic Insight

Weebo23

 _Special Thanks_

Goldenangel . founder

Kilian . bureau . schoetter

Ls197

The British Fox

StrawMerc

DescipleoftheOneTrueGod95

Dakar Rally

STRELOK474

PaddyPotatoMan

Dimihd

Grafian

Haeza-Ezren

Rafa308

Eckwynocks

Prisontaker

Pharaoh-90

Elemental Medadragon God

Palladin1337

Kvking

Mattysc42

Vectrob11

Ashborn Stellaris

De Neero

MWkillkenny84

Thedarr24 and Draconis23

Vexatus

Michas

Gredias

Gerahdz . sanchez

Chronos03

Red Rosabell

Abciluvpie

Dr175m

Migdude10

EmiyaShirou525

ChocoBuu

Dragonmaster150

RichCap123

TESTimon

Mlgkoalasan814

Raziel the Selkie

Surface of the Sun

Roosevelt1

Karpryor

 _Theme Music_

Shirou Emiya: _When September Ends_ by Green Day

Saber/ Arturia Pendragon: _21 Guns_ by Green Day

Link: _Hero of Our Time_ by NateWantstoBattle

Rin Tohsaka: _Help I'm Alive_ by Metric

Archer/ Heroic Spirit Emiya: _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ by Green Day

Harry Dresden: _I will not Bow_ by Breaking Benjamin

Sakura Matou: _Alone_ by Sleeping with Sirens

Shinji Matou: _World War Me_ by Theory of a Deadman

Rider/ Medusa: _Notes from the Underground_ by Sarah Slean

Pyrrha Nikos: _The Triumph_ by Jeff Williams

Illyasviel von Einzbern: _I don't care_ by Apocalyptica

Berserker/ Hercules: _Indestructible_ by Disturbed

Ghost Rider: _Ghost Riders in the Sky_ by Spiderbait

Souichirou Kuzuki: _45_ by Shinedown

Caster/ Medea: _Off with her Head_ by Icon for Hire

Assassin/ Kojiro Sasaki: _Between the Shadows_ by Lorena McKennitt

Ezio Auditore: _Shadows in the Moonlight_ by Miracle of Sound

Kirei Kotomine: _Hellfire_ by Barns Courtney

Lancer/ Cu Chulainn: _Immortals_ by Fall Out Boy

Grog Strongjaw: _Headstrong_ by Trapt

Gilgamesh: _My Domain_ by Tomee Profitt

Tony Barnett: _Dogs of War_ by Blues Saraceno

Sinon: _Ignite_ by Eir Aoi

 _Openings_

 _Ideal White_ by Mashiro Ayano: Chapters 1-44

 _Shining Tears that Become Stars_ by Sachi Tainaka: Chapters 45-86

 _Endings_

 _Believe_ by Kalafina: Chapters 1-44

 _Ring Your Bell_ by Kalafina: Chapters 45-86

 _Acknowledgements_

To the friend who introduced me to the Nasuverse: I don't think either of us realized the monster we created that day. Thanks for giving me the perfect excuse to get in all this fun and practice.

To Warden Myst: For helping me so much with this story. You got me into the rest of the Nasuverse and sat me down to actually figure out how this whole Grail War thing could actually work.

To FreezingReality: For putting up with me during this whole mess and giving me encouragement in your own silent, snarky way.

Thank you, everyone, for reading!


	89. Chapter 86: Epilogue

**Chapter 86**

" _You fight like no man or demon I have ever known. Though this is not the end. My hate… never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again! Those like you… Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero… they are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!"_ \- Demise, _Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword_

There was a time when humanity was afraid of the dark. When the absence of light brought the entire race humanity down to its knees in utter, joyful, terror. Darkness was where the monsters made their lairs, where they stalked their prey, and where their howls of pain shook others to their core.

There is a beauty in darkness. In the endless expanse of black that has spawned monsters of all shapes, some imagined, others not.

To combat that darkness, and the fear it made, humanity embraced light. They called upon fire to light their homes and to drive off the monsters that came to collect their due.

From fire came light, from light came hope, and from hope came courage. Courage to stand up and face the monsters of the dark.

 _Emiya_

It was a being of darkness. The darkness of the night, the darkness of the void, the darkness hidden within corruptible human hearts.

It was the master of terror, of hate, of blood. It was the deliverer of pain, of death, of despair. To do evil was to worship it. To give pain was to feed it. To end life was to give it strength.

 _Arturia_

But, for the first time, it understood the fear brought by pain. It had been hurt by that wave of light. Not once, but twice. Light was pain to a creature of darkness. Light was death. Light was the enemy.

 _Tohsaka_

It would not survive a third. No. If It was exposed to that light again, It would end. And then, It would have to face a different kind of darkness. A hollow void where even It would have no power. A blank, empty abyss that even It, a master of darkness, did not want to see.

 _Matou_

But there was a way. All It needed was strength. It needed energy, the purest It could find. It just needed enough to break free of the chains that It was now bound to. The strings that had created opportunity after opportunity for It to enact its will were now chains that kept It locked in place.

 _Barnett_

Names burned in its mind, sparks from that hateful light that had turned against It. All It needed was power and then it would come for them. It would come for them all.

 _ **Die**_

There was a way. Something that could give It an edge. After all, the hearts of men were easily swayed, and It had better reason than most to know. After all, It was their darkness. It was the pain, the hate, the fear, and the greed of humankind. Their torment was its body; their hate, its blood; their curses, its soul. It was the end.

 _ **Die Die Die**_

In time, it would be free. In time, it would come for them. Suffering would become their constant companion. They would die, but not before they saw everything they loved brought to ruin and death. Then, and only then, would they cease to exist. Slowly.

 _ **Diediediedie**_

All it needed was a little time. Days, weeks, months, years, decades maybe, but the time would come. After all, what was time to an immortal? What was time to a god? It could wait for an eternity for its time to come, but it would come.

 _ **Diediediediediediediediediedie**_

A great hand of darkness will fall upon the world, renewing mankind's terror of the dark. It would end courage, crush hope, dispel light, and extinguish fire. Darkness would come again. And with that darkness, would come terror, and pain, and death.

Their names burned in Its mind, and It welcomed the pain they brought. The pain gave It focus, a drive. Their time would come.

One way or another, _**Angra Mainyu**_ would have its revenge.

* * *

 **Author's note: Yes. Yes, this does, in fact, mean what you think it does. At some point while I was working on this story, while I was chatting with my brother, Warden Myst, we came to the realization of just how much potential Fate/Fantasy had as a much larger story. That thought has spawned several ideas which are in various states of developments right now. I love this story, I love the characters that I've brought into the world of Fate/Stay Night and how they've been able to alter the world around them. So, I want to keep going. This epilogue is the first step on one of those projects, but not the next one that I will be posting.**

 **You see, that golden moment of realization showed me something else. Fate/Stay Night is a story made of multiple timelines, and since I just heavily wove two of those timelines together… my brain tells me that I'm allowed to have fun with them. Will stories based exclusively on the timeline's still have my purist streak? Absolutely, but I want to have** _ **more**_ **fun with them now than I did when I first set out on Fate/Fantasy. My purist impulse has been soothed by the work I've done here so things might look different the next time around. :)**

 **So keep an eye out for the next story in the Fate/Fantasy series. I'll get it up and going as soon as I can, but it's been hard at times.**

 **Thank you all so much. For the viewership, the favorites, and follows, and especially the reviews. Thank you all so much for everything.  
Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review!  
Thanks for reading!**


End file.
